AppliedHE Xchange Afghanistan 27 October 2021

Time	Descriptions
10:00	Start of Programme
10:00	Welcome Remarks and Afghanistan Country Report Dr Bahrullah Safi, Chancellor, Mirwais Neeka University, Afghanistan
10:20	Welcome Remarks Presentation 1: “AppliedHE, The New Kid on the Block” Mandy Mok, Founder & CEO, AppliedHE, Singapore
10:45	Keynote Address Presentation 2: The Impact of Higher Education Ranking Systems on Universities Dr Kevin Downing, Secretary to Council and Court, Director of Institutional Research Office, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Prof Dato’ Dr Mohammad Shatar Sabran, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), Malaysia
11:05	Panel Discussion: The Impact of Higher Education Ranking Systems on Universities Moderator: Representative from Mirwais Neeka University Dr Kevin Downing, Secretary to Council and Court, Director of Institutional Research Office, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Prof Dato’ Dr Mohammad Shatar Sabran, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), Malaysia Dr Bahrullah Safi, Chancellor, Mirwais Neeka University, Afghanistan Prof Mohamad I. Al-Widyan, President, Amman Arab University (AAU), Jordan Dr Dian Ekowati, Head, Planning and Development Board, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia
11:35	Presentation 2: An Introduction to AppliedHE Rating Systems Pieter E. Stek, Chief Analyst, AppliedHE, Singapore
11:50	Closing Remarks Dr Bahrullah Safi, Chancellor, Mirwais Neeka University, Afghanistan
11:55	Closing Remarks Mandy Mok, Founder & CEO, AppliedHE, Singapore
12:00	End of Programme

Prof Kevin Downing

Secretary to Council and Court
Professor of Veterinary Clinical Science
City University of Hong Kong
HONG KONG

Prof Kevin Downing is Director of Knowledge, Enterprise and Analysis at City University of Hong Kong.

His portfolios have included strategic and academic planning, institutional research, quality assurance and liaison with the Universities Grants Committee. Prof Downing is a Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Scientist with a current Licence to Practice, and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society with wide international experience, including senior academic posts in Europe and Asia.

His published work centres on psychology, education and metacognitive development and he is Editor-in-Chief of the SSCI and SCOPUS listed journal Educational Studies.

Prof Perry Hobson

Director of Academy of Tourism
Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas)
THE NETHERLANDS

Professor J.S.Perry Hobson, PhD has recently relocated to Europe to take up the role as the Director of the Academy of Tourism at Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) in The Netherlands. He has lived and worked in the UK, USA and Hong Kong (SAR-China) and has held a variety of senior academic roles in both Australia and Malaysia – where he was the PVC for Global Engagement at both Taylor’s University and Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur. During his 7-years working at Taylor’s University, he initiated and later led their rankings strategy. Over the years he has been responsible for initiating and managing various transnational education (TNE) relationships, actively involved in international accreditation and has also served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Q1 ranked Journal of Vacation Marketing since 1999. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Management Centre Innsbruck (MCi) in Austria, an Adjunct Professor at Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU) in Vietnam, and sits on the International Advisory Board of the University of Ostrava (OSU) in The Czech Republic.

Contact Details:
Mobile: +31-628801525
Work email: hobson.p@buas.nl
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professor-perry-hobson-5b7517b/

Prof Dr Maurits van Rooijen

Chief Academic Officer
Global University Systems and President
University of Europe for Applied Sciences Germany
GERMANY

Professor van Rooijen has held visiting and honorary appointments at universities globally in his academic field (sustainable urbanisation) and has published widely on international education and university management. He is actively involved in various international organisations. He is the long serving co-chairman of the World Association for Co-operative and work Integrated learning (https://waceinc.org/) and the former President of the Compostela Group of Universities from 2008-2016. (https://web.gcompostela.org/). He holds various international awards including the Constance Meldrum prize for Vision and Leadership (EAIE 2012) and the Emblema Ouro or Golden Insignia of the Universidad Santiago de Compostela (2014).

Since the mid-90s Prof dr Maurits van Rooijen has served on the executive of the European Access Network (EAN), which is currently based in Belgium and is the only global organisation wholly dedicated to advancing access and widening participation to higher education.

Professor Maurits van Rooijen is Group President and Chief Academic Officer of Global University Systems (GUS). In addition to this role, on 1st September 2019, Professor van Rooijen was appointed as President of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences. He is also Chairman of IBAT College Dublin and GISMA Germany.

Prof Kevin Downing

Secretary to Council and Court,
Professor of Veterinary Clinical Science
City University of Hong Kong
HONG KONG

Prof Kevin Downing is Secretary to Council and Court, Professor of Veterinary Clinical Science at City University of Hong Kong. His portfolios have included strategic and academic planning, institutional research, quality assurance and liaison with the Universities Grants Committee. Prof Downing is a Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Scientist with a current Licence to Practice, and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society with wide international experience, including senior academic posts in Europe and Asia. His published work centres on psychology, education and metacognitive development and he is Editor-in-Chief of the SSCI and SCOPUS listed journal Educational Studies.

Dr Jenny Wong

Dean, Faculty of Business
The Prime School of Integrated Logistics
Saito University College
MALAYSIA

Dr. Jenny Wong Sook Khuan has received the Doctor of Philosophy in Education from a local private university, Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Nottingham Trent University, UK and Bachelor Degree of Commerce specializing in Accounting & International Trade from Monash University, Australia. Her passion is to educate the young minds and to drive changes to the education ecosystem. With more than 20 years of experience in higher education industry, her roles actively include the senior management and academic leadership team, creating multidisciplinary curriculum and programs development as well as international partnership with universities and business organizations. Jenny has also been invited as Keynote Speaker at overseas’ conferences and participated in many panel discussions both locally and internationally on trending topics such as Joy in Learning, Standing Out from the Crowd: Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Students’ Well-Being, EQ and Career Prospects, Entrepreneurship, Business Digitalization and much more. Being a certified professional trainer herself, she has conducted multiple training sessions on EQ, leadership, stress management and personal development skills to various educational institutions as well as business organizations. With her expertise in these areas, they are showcased in her research work championing transdisciplinary research ranging from EQ, educational design, entrepreneurship and well-being design. Over the course of her career, she has been awarded research grants, established networks with various universities collaborating in multiple projects, research initiatives and actively involved in community services.

Sheikh Hammad Amjad

Deputy Country Head
Nippon Express Group
PAKISTAN

Sheikh Hammad Amjad is currently the Deputy Country Head Pakistan for one of the largest Japanese logistics groups globally. He is the former CEO for the International Business Council established to facilitate business linkages, and has also served as CEO, British Business Centre Pakistan, a company formed by the British Government to facilitate UK SMEs in the country. He has previously worked with the British Council and Ministry of Information & Technology in Pakistan.

Hammad is a management professional with extensive experience in business and programme management, strategies and programmes. His experience includes working with large number of stakeholders, engaging government, trade, and civil society organisations in programme implementation.

Together with his professional roles, Hammad is also engaged as a consultant with various organisations for market expansion, business development and training of entrepreneurs. He has founded 11 start-ups in his career. He is a business coach and mentor, and associated with several incubation centers across Pakistan.

Hammad holds an MBA degree from the Institute of Business Management, Karachi, and last year received the prestigious Charales Wallace Trust Fellowship at SOAS, University of London.

Dary Milani

Pro Vice-Chancellor
Recruitment & International Operations
La Trobe University
AUSTRALIA

Dary is a senior leader within the education industry with almost 20 years in international education and a depth of education industry knowledge & experience gained from working across multiple sectors. He brings a strong track record in building and nurturing business relationships, driving performance, liaising effectively with internal and external stakeholders and understanding the business imperatives of a complex, multi–layered organisation.

With an excellent record of implementation of B2B and B2C strategies that cross outbound and inbound marketing, Dary is highly experienced in planning and implementing effective student recruitment strategies across international and domestic markets. His expertise is in embedding culture of internationalisation within institutions and wider community stakeholders.

Dary is a graduate of the University of Liverpool (BA Hons 2001) and the University of Wollongong (Grad Cert 2021).

Christine Fairchild

Director of Alumni Relations
Oxford University
UNITED KINGDOM

Christine Fairchild was appointed Oxford University’s new Director of Alumni Relations in March 2011. She and her team are responsible for supporting links between alumni of the collegiate University and Oxford through a dynamic offering of events, benefits, services and communications vehicles. The University has 350,000+ known alumni in 188 countries. There is an extensive alumni network made up of 180 active branches and shared interest groups.

Before arriving in Oxford, she had 20 years of experience in alumni relations at the Harvard Business School (HBS), including most recently as Executive Director of External Relations, overseeing the School’s alumni outreach and fundraising activities.

Educated at Connecticut College in the US, Christine graduated with a BA in Asian Studies. Upon graduation, she joined the Harvard Art Museums, where she spent ten years in membership, development, special events and public education activities. She has volunteered for Hospice of Cambridge, Mount Auburn Hospital, Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic, Learning by Design, Concord Academy and Connecticut College. She has been a member of the CERN Alumni Advisory Board and currently sits on the Malvern College Council and is a Trustee of the Malvernian Society. She is a Hugh Price Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford and an Associate at Somerville College, Oxford.

Zeba Salman

Director of Alumni Relations
Australian National University
AUSTRALIA

In her leadership role as Director of Alumni Relations at The Australian National University, Zeba is responsible for the University’s global network of 133,000 ANU alumni. A member of ANU Advancement’s senior management team, Zeba partners with faculties and divisions to develop and lead on the University’s domestic and international alumni engagement programs.

Previously at the University of Newcastle NSW, Zeba’s relocation to Australia in 2017 followed extensive sector experience in London-based universities – most recently at SOAS, University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies), and previously at Imperial College London. Her professional experience lends her a nuanced advantage in the international nature of networks, membership, higher education and the related marketing, communications, development and recruitment activities.

Zeba is a graduate of SOAS (MA 2017), King’s College London (BSc 2001), member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and former vice chair of HEERA (Higher Education External Relations Association).

Mr Dary Milani

Pro Vice-Chancellor
La Trobe University
AUSTRALIA

Dary Milani is an international education specialist with a wealth of experience and knowledge spanning over 17 years. As a leader in international education, Dary has developed expertise in designing and implementing growth strategies for public and private institutes alike, helping them to identify optimisation opportunities and achieve outstanding results. One of Dary’s most notable achievements was designing and implementing a 5-year growth strategy for a regional university, resulting in unprecedented numbers of international student enrolments and exceeding revenue targets year-on-year. Dary’s innovative approach to offshore-based student recruitment staff has also been successfully implemented in numerous institutions, meeting local and international regulations.

Dary has led innovative Transnational Education strategies, co-creating a new model for a university that fulfilled a core mission of access to education on a global scale. His work has been recognised with numerous industry awards, including for the establishment of student leadership programs and donor-funded scholarships that have had a transformative impact on individual development and community engagement. With his exceptional depth of industry knowledge and innovative approach, Dary Milani continues to make a lasting impact on the international education landscape.

Prof Kevin Downing

Secretary to Council and Court Director
Institutional Research Office
City University of Hong Kong
HONG KONG

Prof Kevin Downing is Director of Knowledge, Enterprise and Analysis at City University of Hong Kong. His portfolios have included strategic and academic planning, institutional research, quality assurance and liaison with the Universities Grants Committee. Prof Downing is a Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Scientist with a current Licence to Practice, and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society with wide international experience, including senior academic posts in Europe and Asia. His published work centres on psychology, education and metacognitive development and he is Editor-in-Chief of the SSCI and SCOPUS listed journal Educational Studies.

Mrs Winnie Eley

Partner
Education Insight
UNITED KINGDOM

Winnie has a dedicated interest in all-round education, strategy and governance, leadership and management. For two decades, she held a number of senior academic leadership and executive positions from Vice-President at University of Southampton in the UK, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at The University of Newcastle in Australia, Director of International Affairs at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Deputy Country Director at British Council in Nigeria, to Director of Education Services at British Council in Hong Kong. Her recent role was Secretary to the Governing Board of CityU (Dongguan) at City University of Hong Kong. Currently, she is a Partner at Education Insight UK.

Dr Richard Holmes

Editor
University Ranking Watch blog
UNITED KINGDOM

Richard Holmes has worked at colleges and universities in the United States, Nigeria and Malaysia, most recently at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). His work in Applied Linguistics has appeared in journals such as English for Specific Purposes, ITL international Journal of Applied Linguistics, Innovations in Education and Teaching International and the Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics.

He is now the writer of the blog University Ranking Watch and has worked on global university rankings with universities and organisations such as the International Ranking Expert Group, the International Network of Research Management Systems, and the International Visibility Project, Poland. He has spoken at academic conferences including Wuhan University, Ural Federal University, Qatar University, the University of Bologna, and Beijing University of Technology.

Dr Richard Holmes

Editor
University Ranking Watch blog
UNITED KINGDOM

Richard Holmes has worked at colleges and universities in the United States, Nigeria and Malaysia, most recently at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). His work in Applied Linguistics has appeared in journals such as English for Specific Purposes, ITL international Journal of Applied Linguistics, Innovations in Education and Teaching International and the Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics.

He is now the writer of the blog University Ranking Watch and has worked on global university rankings with universities and organisations such as the International Ranking Expert Group, the International Network of Research Management Systems, and the International Visibility Project, Poland. He has spoken at academic conferences including Wuhan University, Ural Federal University, Qatar University, the University of Bologna, and Beijing University of Technology.

Dr Jenny Wong, CMgr, FCMI

Dean
Saito Business School
The Prime School of Integrated Logistics
Saito University College
MALAYSIA

Dr. Jenny Wong Sook Khuan has received the Doctor of Philosophy in Education from a local private university, Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Nottingham Trent University, UK and Bachelor Degree of Commerce specializing in Accounting & International Trade from Monash University, Australia. Her passion is to educate the young minds and to drive changes to the education ecosystem. With more than 20 years of experience in higher education industry, her roles actively include the senior management and academic leadership team, creating multidisciplinary curriculum and programs development as well as international partnership with universities and business organizations. Jenny has also been invited as Keynote Speaker at overseas’ conferences and participated in many panel discussions both locally and internationally on trending topics such as Joy in Learning, Standing Out from the Crowd: Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Students’ Well-Being, EQ and Career Prospects, Entrepreneurship, Business Digitalization and much more. Being a certified professional trainer herself, she has conducted multiple training sessions on EQ, leadership, stress management and personal development skills to various educational institutions as well as business organizations. With her expertise in these areas, they are showcased in her research work championing transdisciplinary research ranging from EQ, educational design, entrepreneurship and well-being design. Over the course of her career, she has been awarded research grants, established networks with various universities collaborating in multiple projects, research initiatives and actively involved in community services.

Dr Yuni Sari Amalia

Deputy Head
Planning and Development Board
Airlangga University
INDONESIA

Dr. Yuni Sari Amalia is a lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities at Airlangga University. She was also previously the Deputy Director for Academic Affairs. She currently serves as the Deputy Head of the Planning and Development Board.

Her works and research include the development of digital learning and she has been involved with innovative programs for the future, such as the development of advanced LMS, and the creation of MOOC, as well as initiatives for the development of VR based educational technology at Universitas Airlangga. Her other research interests include language systems, teaching, and learning.

In her spare time, she like planting and culinary adventures!

Mr Edizon Fermin

Vice President for Academic Affairs
National Teachers College
PHILIPPINES

Ed Fermin is the Vice President for Academic Affairs of National Teachers College. He continues to provide expert advice to the Philippine Commission on Higher Education on matters concerning teacher education, flexible learning, internationalisation, and quality assurance. Aside from studying the rapid evolution of qualification frameworks and inclusive education pathways, he finds great meaning in exploring the creative disciplines, especially visual art and dance.

Prof Perry Hobson

Director of the Academy of Tourism
Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas)
THE NETHERLANDS

Professor J.S.Perry Hobson, PhD has recently relocated to Europe to take up the role as the Director of the Academy of Tourism at Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) in The Netherlands. He has lived and worked in the UK, USA and Hong Kong (SAR-China) and has held a variety of senior academic roles in both Australia and Malaysia – where he was the PVC for Global Engagement at both Taylor’s University and Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur. During his 7-years working at Taylor’s University, he initiated and later led their rankings strategy. Over the years he has been responsible for initiating and managing various transnational education (TNE) relationships, actively involved in international accreditation and has also served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Q1 ranked Journal of Vacation Marketing since 1999. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Management Centre Innsbruck (MCi) in Austria, an Adjunct Professor at Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU) in Vietnam, and sits on the International Advisory Board of the University of Ostrava (OSU) in The Czech Republic.

Contact Details:
Mobile: +31-628801525
Work email: hobson.p@buas.nl
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professor-perry-hobson-5b7517b/

Dr Janet Ilieva

Founder and Director
Education Insight
UNITED KINGDOM

Janet Ilieva is founder and director of Education Insight, a research consultancy specialising in international higher education. Janet’s research focuses on higher education engagement, global student mobility and transnational education and its contribution to sustainable development.

Janet started her career as a university lecturer in economics before joining the British Council in 2004, to lead the department’s work for higher education research and market intelligence. Janet joined the Higher Education Funding Council for England in May 2013 as head of the HEFCE Observatory. There, she published on international student demand for higher education in England with a strong focus on transnational education.

Janet is an advisor to the Philippine – UK Transnational Education Programme run by the British Council and the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines (https://www.britishcouncil.ph/tne) and a member of the Board of Trustees at Richmond, the American International University in London (https://www.richmond.ac.uk/about-richmond/board-of-trustees/).

Dr Nico Jooste

Founding Member and Director of the African Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation
SOUTH AFRICA

Dr Nico Jooste is the Founding Member and Director of the African Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation. He has had a diverse higher education career before he formally entered the Higher Education Internationalisation field (in 2000), bringing with him Senior University Management Experience and the experience as a Senior Higher Education Lecturer. Dr Jooste firmly believes that Internationalisation is part of the Institutional Academic project (and not just an administrative activity), and that fundamental research about the practice of internationalisation and the development of the field as an academic discipline should be integrated and practiced throughout the institution and higher education systems.

In all his achievements these believes were always the guiding principle. For instance, at the micro-level he convinced his previous institution to recognise Internationalisation as part of the Academic Governance model of the University and as such it became part of the University Academic Senate, and the position of the Head of Internationalisation being awarded dual title, that of an Administrative Professional as well as that of a Senior Academic leader.

He was the Senior Director of the Office for International Education at Nelson Mandela University (South Africa) from 2000 till 2018 when he retired from the public sector to focus solely on AfriC. He was responsible for the development of the office as a self-funding entity. During his time in office, international student numbers grew from 130 in 2000 to 1500 in 2018. Comprehensive Internationalisation was implemented during this period as a strategic imperative of the University. In 2012, the Office was awarded the Excellence in Internationalisation Award by the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA). Dr Jooste is involved in the re-thinking of higher education internationalisation globally and as such helped arrange the Global Dialogue on the Future of Higher Education Internationalisation, held in January 2014 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He was appointed by the Department of Higher Education and Training to head the advisory committee responsible for the drafting of the South African National Policy for Higher Education Internationalisation. The draft policy was published in June 2017 and would be come national policy during the 2019 calendar year.

He is the former President of the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA). From June 1998 to June 2000, he was the Executive Director of the Eastern Cape Higher Education Association. He was the Deputy Registrar Academic from January 1993 and acting Registrar of the University of Fort Hare from January 1995 to December 1996. Dr Jooste was also a lecturer and senior lecturer in the Department of History and Economic History at the University of Fort Hare from February 1982 to February 1992. His areas of specialisation are the Internationalisation of Higher Education in Developing Countries, the Eastern Cape history and international relations of South Africa during the Cold War. He has published widely on South African history as well as on Higher Education management and Higher Education Internationalisation. He has further presented numerous papers at local and international conferences on both topics, and been the keynote speaker at various international higher education conferences. He is a member of a variety of Global International Education Organisations and was identified by the AIEA as one of the 27 global international education provocateurs in May 2014.

Winnie Eley (Mrs.)

Secretary to Governing Board of CityU (Dongguan) at City University of Hong Kong
HONG KONG SAR

Winnie has a dedicated interest in all-round education, equity, inclusion, governance and leadership. She held a number of senior academic leadership and executive positions from Vice-President at University of Southampton in the UK, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at The University of Newcastle in Australia, Director of International Affairs at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Deputy Country Director at British Council in Nigeria, to Director of Education Services at British Council in Hong Kong. Currently, she is Chair of QS Asia Pacific Advisory Committee, a member of QS Global Advisory Committee, a board member of AppliedHE Rankometer Advisory Board, and a partner at Education Insight UK.

Prof Dr Maurits van Rooijen

Chief Academic Officer, Global University Systems and
Rector, University of Europe for Applied Sciences Germany
UNITED KINGDOM

Professor van Rooijen has held visiting and honorary appointments at universities globally in his academic field (sustainable urbanisation) and has published widely on international education and university management. He is actively involved in various international organisations. He is the long serving co-chairman of the World Association for Co-operative and work Integrated learning (https://waceinc.org/) and the former President of the Compostela Group of Universities from 2008-2016. (https://web.gcompostela.org/). He holds various international awards including the Constance Meldrum prize for Vision and Leadership (EAIE 2012) and the Emblema Ouro or Golden Insignia of the Universidad Santiago de Compostela (2014).

Since the mid-90s Prof dr Maurits van Rooijen has served on the executive of the European Access Network (EAN), which is currently based in Belgium and is the only global organisation wholly dedicated to advancing access and widening participation to higher education.

Professor Maurits van Rooijen is Group Rector and Chief Academic Officer of Global University Systems (GUS). In addition to this role, on 1st September 2019, Professor van Rooijen was appointed as Rector of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences. He is also Chairman of IBAT College Dublin and GISMA Germany.

Prof Dr Shameem Rafik-Galea

Professor of Applied Lingustics and TESOL
SEGI University
MALAYSIA

Professor Dr. Shameem Rafik-Galea is presently a Professor of Applied Lingustics and TESOL at SEGI University Malaysia. She is also an associate consultant of Galileo Enterprises and Consultancy Services (M) as well as the current President of the Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics (MAAL). Shameem retired as a Professor of Applied Linguistics from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in October 2017 where she was actively involved in institutional ranking and branding matters. During this time she was an active member of the QS IAAC committee. She then served as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Liberal Arts, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur from January 2018 to December 2019 before embarking on a career as a consultant and her current position at SEGI. Shameem has had an active career as a teacher and university academic spanning over 35 years. She has vast experience in matters relating to research, postgraduate education, internationalisation, institutional ranking, quality assurance and curriculum planning and renewal.

Professor Yan Hong

Wong Chun Hong Professor of Data Engineering
City University of Hong Kong
HONG KONG

Professor Yan Hong is Wong Chun Hong Professor of Data Engineering and Chair Professor of Computer Engineering at City University of Hong Kong and the Director of the Centre for Intelligent Multidimensional Data Analysis (CIMDA).

Professor Yan’s research interests include image processing and computer vision, computer animation, machine learning, and computational biology and medicine. He is widely recognised for his highly innovative work in advancing technological and economic developments. He is a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (2021), and the International Association for Pattern Recognition (2000). He is a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2019), and Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society (2010). He has won numerous awards including the Norbert Wiener Award from the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society (2016), Excellent Product Award at the China Hi-Tech Fair (2013), and Lotfi Zadeh Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Machine Learning and Cybernetics (2013).

Professor Yan Houmin

Chair Professor of Management Sciences
City University of Hong Kong
HONG KONG

Professor Yan Houmin is Chair Professor of Management Sciences and Programme Director of the MSc in Accounting and Finance with AI and Fintech Applications co-launched by City University of Hong Kong and Beijing National Accounting Institute. He is currently the Director of the Laboratory for AI-Powered Financial Technologies (AIFT).

Professor Yan’s main research areas are stochastic models, machine learning and algorithms, risk modeling and analysis, and supply chain management. He has published in journals such as Operations Research, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, IIE Transactions, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Optimization: Theory and Applications, and IEEE Transactions. In a commissioned citation study by the Journal of Operations Management on knowledge evolution in Operations Management over the last 30 years, his research into supply chain coordination was recognised as part of general knowledge structure for Operations Management in the 2000s. He has won Best Paper Awards from the Institute of Industrial Engineers and the Society of Production and Operations Management.

Professor Yan is a Member of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance and he is on the EQUIS Committee, European Foundation for Management Development.

Professor Zhang Yuanting

Chair Professor in Biomedical Engineering
City University of Hong Kong
HONG KONG

Professor Zhang Yuanting is Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong; Director of the Hong Kong Centre for Cerebro-cardiovascular Health Engineering (COCHE); founding Head of Biomedical Engineering Division at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, founding Director of the Key Laboratory for Health Informatics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); and founding Director of CAS-SIAT Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering.

Professor Zhang serves currently as Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering and Chair of Working Group for IEEE 1708 Standard. He was Vice-President of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

Professor Zhang’s research interests include cardiovascular health informatics, unobtrusive sensing and wearable devices, neural-muscular physiological modeling and m-Health technologies. He was the Chief Scientist for a national “973” project founded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, China, on multi-modality sensing and imaging of plaques in vascular systems. Moreover, he was an Investigator/Co-PI for several international research collaboration projects, including the European Union FP7 “HeartCycle” project led by Philips Research.

Professor Zhang has served on grant reviewing panels/committees for more than 10 countries/regions. These include the Wellcome Trust in the UK, National Institutes of Health in the US, and National Science Foundation of China. Professor Zhang won more than 30 national and international academic awards and he was elected as IAMBE Fellow, IEEE Fellow and AIMBE Fellow for his contributions to the development of wearable and m-Health technologies.

Professor Michael Tse Chi-kong

Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research)
City University of Hong Kong
HONG HONG

Professor Michael Tse Chi-kong is currently Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research) and Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong. His research interests include network applications, power electronics and nonlinear systems. He is a recipient of a number of research and invention prizes, including several Best Paper Prizes from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and various journals. He won the Grand Prize at the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival in 2019. In 2005, 2010 and 2018, he was appointed as IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, and has served on a number of IEEE committees, including the IEEE Fellows Committee and the IEEE Awards Committee. Additionally, he has chaired the Steering Committee for IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering.

He has been awarded honorary professorships and distinguished fellowships by a number of Australian, Canadian and Chinese universities. He is Chang Jiang Scholar Chair Professor at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Honorary Professor at the University of Melbourne University; and Distinguished Professor-at-Large at the University of Western Australia.

He was elected Fellow of IEEE in 2005 and of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 2009.

Dr Conrado E Iñigo

Chairman
Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA)
PHILIPPINES

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila as a scholar. He has taken his MBA from Ateneo de Manila University and Philippine Christian University. He has obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management as a Dean’s lister.

He took his Post Doctoral course in Management Development Program from Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania and Minnesota Management Academy, University of Minnesota. He is a graduate of the Executive Strategy Program from Georgetown University, Washington D.C. He was granted a Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship at the National University of Singapore. He has completed international special trainings in business education as a scholar of the ASEAN – Ministry of Education of Malaysia. He was accredited Diplomate in Business Education by the Philippine Academy of Professionals in Business Education. Likewise, he was selected to represent the Philippines in several Asian Productivity Organization (APO) total quality management programs and the Malcolm Baldrige framework study mission in USA. He was tasked by the Asian Productivity Organization as the national expert for the Philippines on measuring productivity in higher education.

He was the recipient of the 2014 Juran Medal Award conferred by the Philippine Society for Quality for his contributions in upgrading the quality of management system in various organizations. The AGORA Award for his outstanding achievement in Marketing Education given by the Philippine Marketing Association. A recipient of 2016 Asia’s Education Excellence Award given by CMI Asia in Singapore. He was granted a lifetime Accredited Marketing Educator confirmed by the Commission on Higher Education. 2018 Tourism Hospitality Education International Center of Excellence Fellow award by the THE ICE in Australia. Likewise, he was recognized as Outstanding Alumnus of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila during the PLM Ruby Anniversary and Outstanding Alumnus awarded by PLM Alumni Association.

He is the author of “Management for Filipinos, Principles and Applications” a prescribed textbook for senior high school and college students.

He is one of the active and recognized leaders of the educational, professional, and civic organizations, being the Founding President of the Philippine Council of Deans and Educators in Business, Charter Officer of the Council of Management Educators in the Philippines, and the Founding Chairman of the CHED-Business Education-Industry Summit. He was elected Deputy-President of the ASEAN Tourism for Research Association. (ATRA) and Vice-President for Academe, Government, Academe, Industry Network, Inc.

Currently, he is the Chairman of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation, (PACUCOA) and former President of the Federation of Accrediting Agencies in the Philippines (FAAP). He has been appointed as Chairman of CHED Technical Committee for Business Administration, Entrepreneurship and Office Administration, and Chairman of DepED Senior High School Curriculum Task Force for Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) academic track.

Dr. Iñigo counts with over 43 years of administrative and academic experience, most notably at Centro Escolar University where he served as the ISO Quality Management Representative, Dean of the School of Accountancy, Business and Management and the Vice-President for Technology and Development.

Has was the Vice-President for Academic Affairs and ISO Integrated Management Representative of Lyceum of the Philippines University Manila and Cavite campuses for twelve years and eight months.

At present, he is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the University of the Visayas, Cebu City.

Prof Sally Chan

President
Tung Wah College
Hong Kong

Professor Sally Chan is the third President of the Tung Wah College, Hong Kong. Prior to this appointment, she was the Pro Vice Chancellor (Singapore campus) and the Dean of School of Nursing and Midwifery of University of Newcastle (UON), Australia. Sally has more 30 years’ experience in the university sectors in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Her career influences the tripartite mission of research, education and practice. Sally focuses on translating evidence to improve healthcare practice outcomes, implementing teaching innovations, and mentoring new generations of healthcare professionals. Supported by more than 100 funded studies (more than Aus$10 millions), more than 400 publications in international healthcare journals and international presentations, Sally has developed and sustained international inter-institutional partnerships. The results of her sustained research agenda and scholarship have made a recognized impact on healthcare practice and education in the Region. Sally has been honored for her significant and sustained contribution to nursing which improved the nursing profession and the people it serves. In 2013, she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. In 2021, she has been listed among the top 2% scientists in a global list released by the prestigious Stanford University.

Dr Wilhelm Klein

CEO, Zeta Motion
HONG KONG

Dr Wilhelm Klein is CEO of Zeta Motion, a deep tech company based in the UK and Hong Kong, providing Visual AI for smart manufacturing and beyond. Zeta Motion is supported by CityU, the Hong Kong Science & Technology Park, Mizuho Crowdbrain, the Creative Destruction Lab at Oxford University, HKAI lab and other prestigious programmes, and was recently selected for the HK Tech 300’s inaugural Angel Investment cohort.

Both Wilhelm and his co-founder and CTO, Dr Huy Phan, earned their PhDs at City University of Hong Kong’s School of Creative Media, in Technology & AI Ethics and Computer Vision & Graphics, respectively.

Wilhelm also serves as visiting professor for Hong Kong Baptist University’s Ethical & Theoretical AI lab, where he contributes to collective efforts towards ethical and sustainable innovation, especially regarding AI-based technologies. He is an outspoken digital rights advocate and a director for Hong Kong’s Makerspace DimSumLabs.

In his free time, Wilhelm is a tinkerer and creator. He greatly enjoys black- and bladesmithing and building and racing drones competitively.

Professor Wang Zuankai

Chair Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
HONG KONG

Professor Wang is the founding member of the Young Academy of Science of Hong Kong, Fellow of the International Society of Bionic Engineering and Changjiang Chair Professor awarded by the Ministry of Education of China. He has won many awards including the Xplorer Prize (2020), Hiwin Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor Award (Silver, 2019), World Cultural Council Special Recognition Award (2018), Outstanding Youth Award from the International Society of Bionic Engineering (2016), Outstanding Research Award (2017) and President’s Lectureship at City University of Hong Kong (2018, 2020).

He has made seminal contributions to surface science and engineering, especially on innovating new materials, mechanisms, and manufacturing techniques for the water-energy nexus. His work on droplet impact was recognized as a Guinness world record and was featured as one of 15 favourite papers over 15 years of publications selected by Nature Physics editors. He achieved a major breakthrough by solving a 256-year challenge in thermal management. He is also the inventor of the Droplet-based Electricity Generator (Nature in 2020), which provides a paradigm shift in how water energy can be collected.

He has published more than 180 papers in Nature, Science and other peer-reviewed journals.

Dr Kannie Chan Wai-Yan

Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
HONG KONG

Dr. Chan’s research focuses on the development of biomaterials and imaging approaches to facilitate the clinical translation of cancer therapy and cell therapy, and early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases.

She received her BSc and PhD degrees from The University of Hong Kong. She completed post-doctoral fellowships in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and became an Assistant Professor in 2014. She joined City University of Hong Kong in 2016.

She is a leading researcher in applying a frontier molecular MRI contrast mechanism, known as chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST), to address clinical needs. She has pioneered the imaging of glucose utilization in the brain using CEST-MRI. The way how our brain uses glucose has many implications on diagnosis and monitoring therapy in many neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. Her team is developing various techniques to effectively image and deliver drugs/cells to the brain non-invasively. She published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, including a cover article in Nature Materials, Science Advances and Nature Communications. Her works are well recognised by the MRI community, e.g. she has been invited to give education talks 5 years in a row at the annual conference of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM – a premium conference in MRI with over 10,000 attendees, including scientists, engineers, clinicians and medical physicists). She was the committee of annual meeting program committee (AMPC), and now the publication committee of ISMRM. Most AMPC members are full professors at top research universitites worldwide (http://www.ismrm.org/20m/ampc/). Dr. Chan is one of the four members from Greater China Region. Recently, she was invited to give a webinar in the CEST imaging expert series organised by Bruker.

Mr Martin Zhu Yihao

Member of i2Cool, and PhD student
School of Energy and Environment
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
HONG KONG

Mr. Martin Zhu, a current PhD student in the School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on understanding the fundamentals of heat transfer, energy conversion, and engineered materials. He strives to integrate theory and experiments to create innovative solutions for enhancing phase-changing, air cooling, dehumidifying, thermal management, thermal rectification, micro-droplet manipulation, and energy-efficient building technologies.

Incubated by HK Tech 300 programme, he and his team formed the startup, i2Cool, to commercialize their cooling technologies developed in the laboratory for building energy saving. Empowered by the self-developed and ever-improving product, as well as fueled by the highly adaptive and long-term strategies, i2Cool successfully attracted interest from various sectors of society, creating a significant social impact by contributing to the goal of carbon neutrality.

Professor Michael Yang

Vice President (Research and Technology)
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
HONG KONG

Prof. Michael Yang Mengsu is currently the Vice President (Research and Technology) and Yeung Kin-Man Chair Professor of Biomedical Sciences in City University of Hong Kong, and the Director of the Biotech and Health Centre of City University Shenzhen Research Institute. The research interest of Yang’s group focuses on development of biochip technology and nanotechnology for molecular diagnostics and therapeutic applications.

Prof. Yang has published over 280 peer-reviewed scientific papers and received 33 USA/China patents. He has been awarded the Chunhui Scholar Award by the Ministry of Education in 2003, the K. C. Wong Foundation Award in 2004, the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Award in 2006, the Hong Kong Technological Achievement Grand Award in 2007, the Natural Science Award by the Ministry of Education in 2015, the Wuxi AppTech Life Science and Chemistry Award in 2016, and the Gold Medal of Geneva International Inventions Expo in 2019.

He is a member of Hong Kong SAR government’s Research Grants Council, and serves as panel members for the Health and Medical Research Fund and the Innovation and Technology Fund of Hong Kong. He also serves as vice chairman of the Hong Kong Biotechnology Association, a council member of the Division of Nanobiotechnology, Biosensors and Biochips of the Asia Federation of Biotechnology, and a Mentor of Hong Kong X-Tech Platform. He has co-founded several biotech companies including Genetel, Prenetics, and Cellomics.

Professor Christian Wagner

Provost
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
HONG KONG

Professor Christian Wagner has been on the faculty at CityU for over 25 years. He is currently Chair Professor in the School of Creative Media, as well as Provost. Professor Wagner started his academic career at the University of Southern California after receiving his PhD in Business Administration from the University of British Columbia in 1989.

Professor Wagner specializes in the development and study of creativity support, collective intelligence, knowledge management, and the use of computer games for learning. He is an award-winning author, multiple teaching award winner, experienced administrator, and software entrepreneur. He is most recognized for his research on wikis and their impact on organizational performance.

Prof Dr Saule Sarsenbayeva (MBA)

Director General
ECAAQA
KAZAKHSTAN

Director General of the non-profit organisation “Eurasian Centre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Health Care” (ECAQA).

Dr Saule Sarsenbayeva is an expert in the accreditation of medical education.Till 2016 she was the Head of the Department for Pediatric diseases, deputy director of the Institute for Development at the Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University. Dr Saule has 30 years of experience in medicine and 25 years of teaching experience. Currently, she is a paediatrist and child cardiologist. She is an author and co-author of 128 research papers and theses published in republican and international journals, 6 patents for inventions and 2 innovative patents, 14 certificates for copyright registered at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 8 textbooks and study guides.

Ni Nyoman Tri Puspaningsih

Vice Rector for Research, Innovation, and Community Development
Universitas Airlangga
INDONESIA

Received the B.S.degree in Chemistry from Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, in 1986, the M.Sc, degree from Department of Chemistry (Biochemistry) Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, in 1994, and the Doctorate degree from Department of Biology (Microbiology), Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Pertanian Bogor, in 2004. On 1999, 2002 and 2003, she joined JSPS short course fellows in Japan. She joined post doctoral fellows program KNAW Netherlands on 2005 and 2007 at University of Groningen and also got KNAW-Multi networking Grant, The Netherlands on 2009 collaboration with Laboratory of Protein Crystallography, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

She achieved the Professor in Biochemistry on 2010 and she was appointed as Adjunct Professor at Asia University in Taiwan in 2017-2018. From 1987 to present, she worked as Biochemistry lecturer at Dept. Of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology in Universitas Airlangga. From 2011 to present, she appointed as the Head of Proteomic Laboratory at Institute of Tropical Disease in Universitas Airlangga that rebuilt as Center for Bio-Molecule Engineering in 2019. From 2007 to 2017 worked as Academic Director at Universitas Airlangga, then June 2017- December 2019, she is appointed as Excecutive Director for Airlangga Global Engagement at Universitas Airlangga. Since 2021-now she is appointed as Vice Rector for Research, Innovation and Community Development. The research grants during five years (2013 – 2019) are (1). Join Research with Institute for protein Research-Osaka University Japan on Crystallization for CBM of Geobacillus thermoleovorans IT-08 , (2). RAPID Research Grant and (3) STRANAS Grant, funding by Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education.and her current research interests include structure, mechanism and function analysis of Enzymes.

Related to the pandemic Covid19, she is appointed as Coordinator of Covid19 Research Product in Universitas Airlangga.She has already published the research at international journal, also awarded of 2 national patents. The research collaboration is being done with overseas universities, research institute, and industries. She is actively also participated as invited speaker related to International Collaboration on Higher Education strategy, output and impact. Prof. Dr. Ni Nyoman Tri Puspaningsih, M.Si is the steering committee Indonesian Society on Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PBBMI) and Asian Community of Glycoscience and Glycotechnology (ACGG). She is also member of Indonesian Chemical Society, Indonesian Protein Society, Asean Microbiology Network and Utilization (AnMicro).

Ms Frances-Ann Mellanson MBA MPM

Senior Financial Manager (Bursar)
The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus
ANTIGUA

Francis-Ann Melanson is a multidimensional finance executive successful in leveraging deep background in corporate finance, general accounting and auditing across B2B and B2C settings to drive results. Demonstrated ability in directing complex financial operations – implementing process improvements and collaborative enterprise solutions to optimize performance. Cross-functional Leader who directs teams with ease in diverse, multicultural environments. Expertise in working with general ledger, accounts payable/receivable, payroll processing, and regulatory compliance (SOX, GAAP, Accpac ISSA). familiar with French and Spanish with extensive knowledge of healthcare, childcare, association, ecommerce, CPG and international banking sectors. Notable contributions include influencing the Board of Directors at Mount St. John Medical Centre (MSJMC) via audit findings to implement user fees for services, generating $6M in new revenue, spearheading expansion of Tremont Crotona Agency market footprint by bidding on, acquiring and integrating failing competitor, worth over $1M, reducing accounts payable balance to vendors by $2.4M through proper debt management with a non-interest-bearing capital injection from central government in Antigua, and creating and maintaining revenue cycle processes and procedures to increase yearly collections by $1M. Now newly appointed Senior Financial Manager (Bursar) at The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus with responsibility to maintain a profitable position of the campus in Antigua with a main aim to increase our international student enrollment.

Dr Jason Turner

Associate Professor and Head of the School of Business
Asia Pacific University
MALAYSIA

Dr Jason Turner is an Associate Professor and Head of the School of Business at Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation, Malaysia. His areas of expertise include digital and strategic transformation and human capital, with specific focus on graduate work readiness and the digital learning space. Having moved to Malaysia in 2016, following 12 years as an academic in the UK, he has expanded his network across Europe, South America and Asia through external engagement and collaborative research projects. During his time as an academic he has worked with a range of companies and tertiary education providers, teaching specifically at the Masters level and producing internationally recognised research in the form of books, academic journals and practitioner related reports and publications. He holds a number of external positions, grants and editorial roles which compliment his current university position and has a wealth of experience in scholarly and external engagement, managing people and leading initiatives relating to management and research. In his current post, he is responsible for the strategic vision, leadership and management of an academic product portfolio to ensure graduates have the appropriate employability skills set to thrive in a transitionary employment market.

He holds a number of qualifications include a Masters of Business Administration, Master of Philosophy and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Edinburgh. He has received a number of awards, with the most recent being the Outstanding Paper in the 2020 Emerald Literati Awards. The editorial team said that it was one of the most exceptional pieces of work they saw throughout 2019.

Prof Kgomotso Moahi

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs)
Bostwana Open University
BOSTWANA

Kgomotso Moahi has worked in academia for the past 37 years. She started her academic career at the University of Botswana as a Documentalist, after which she joined the Department of Library and Information Studies as a lecturer. As a professor in library and information science she has researched and published in the areas of health information systems and indigenous knowledge systems. She occupied several administrative and management positions at the University from Departmental chair, Dean, and acting appointments as DVC Academic Affairs and Vice Chancellor. After exactly 35 years of service at the University of Botswana, she moved to the Botswana Open University where she is currently the DVC in charge of Academic Services as well as Research Innovation and Partnerships. The Botswana Open University is a very young university that seeks to provide quality teaching, research, and service through open and distance learning methodologies. Kgomotso is looking forward to participating in the AppliedHE Squaring the Circle Debate.

Professor Mary Stiasny OBE BSc MA(Ed) PhD

Pro Vice-Chancellor (International, Teaching and Learning)
University of London
UNITED KINGDOM

Throughout her career, Professor Mary Stiasny has worked to both deliver and promote quality accessible education across the world.

Prior to becoming Pro Vice-Chancellor (International, Teaching and Learning), Professor Stiasny provided strategic direction and leadership at the Institute of Education, in her capacity as Pro-Director with responsibility for Learning, Teaching and International.

Working life for Professor Stiasny began as a secondary school teacher in West London. She then joined Goldsmiths College, where she was involved in initial teacher education, becoming Director of PGCE and Deputy Head of the Department of Educational Studies. This was followed by a move to Oxford Brookes University, where she was appointed Deputy Head of the School of Education. She then returned to London, to become Head of the School of Education and Training at the University of Greenwich. Professor Stiasny then spent four years at the British Council as Director of Education and Training before joining the Institute of Education.

Professor Stiasny’s practical and strategic experience in education spans across a wide range of roles, including providing consultancy for a number of education projects that have attracted external funding, and as an external examiner.

Dr Dian Ekowati

Head, Planning and Development Board
Universitas Airlangga
INDONESIA

As the Head of Airlangga Global Engagement, Dian is responsible to manage and coordinate internationalization initiatives and activities in Universitas Airlangga. She is also skilled in qualitative research and analysis, organizational theories and behavior, management of change, and university teaching/learning as well as quality assurance and internationalization. She is an education professional with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) focused in Management of Change and Strategies, Interorganizational Network, Organization Politics/Power and Organizational Territoriality from the University of York, United Kingdom.

Ms Karen Peyronnin

Director
Executive Masters at École des Ponts ParisTech
FRANCE

Karen Peyronnin is the director of the Executive Master programs at École des Ponts ParisTech in France since December 2018.

She has started her career in higher education in BINUS University, Jakarta, Indonesia in 2008 as a lecturer. During her 10 years at BINUS University, she has been in charge of the first EPAS accreditation in Indonesia, head of an international business bachelor program, and finally the director of International and industry partnerships, international office, and QS ranking strategy.

She is French and graduated from ESG Paris (PGSM) with a master in international business Her previous european corporate experience was in international business at Amore Pacific, Paris, France, and supply chain management at Toyota Europe, Brussels, Belgium.

Prof Dr Maurits van Rooijen

Chief Academic Officer, Global University Systems and Rector, University of Europe for Applied Sciences Germany
UNITED KINGDOM

Professor van Rooijen has held visiting and honorary appointments at universities globally in his academic field (sustainable urbanisation) and has published widely on international education and university management. He is actively involved in various international organisations. He is the long serving co-chairman of the World Association for Co-operative and work Integrated learning (https://waceinc.org/) and the former President of the Compostela Group of Universities from 2008-2016. (https://web.gcompostela.org/). He holds various international awards including the Constance Meldrum prize for Vision and Leadership (EAIE 2012) and the Emblema Ouro or Golden Insignia of the Universidad Santiago de Compostela (2014).

Since the mid-90s Prof dr Maurits van Rooijen has served on the executive of the European Access Network (EAN), which is currently based in Belgium and is the only global organisation wholly dedicated to advancing access and widening participation to higher education.

Professor Maurits van Rooijen is Group Rector and Chief Academic Officer of Global University Systems (GUS). In addition to this role, on 1st September 2019, Professor van Rooijen was appointed as Rector of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences. He is also Chairman of IBAT College Dublin and GISMA Germany.

Prof Judith Lamie

Prof Judith Lamie

Managing Director
JL Education Consultants Ltd
UNITED KINGDOM

Professor Judith Lamie is a highly experienced educationalist having worked in the education sector for over 30 years. During this time she held senior executive positions at several universities, providing institutional leadership in marketing and student recruitment, business engagement, online learning and international development. She has been responsible for running offices and campuses both in the United Kingdom and overseas and is an experienced leader, manager and consultant. Judith is Managing Director of JL Education Consultants Ltd.

At JLEC Judith provides interim management solutions, project planning and delivery, coaching and training sessions across a range of academic and professional areas including strategic leadership, internationalisation, marketing and change management.

Judith’s academic background, as a Professor of Advanced Language Study, with a specialism in change management, means she is well placed to assist institutions in making change happen. Judith is a Fellow of the HEA and has authored books and articles in applied linguistics, change management and international education. She has presented at national and international conferences, and worked in an advisory capacity for many institutions, governments, businesses and national agencies. Judith has extensive experience on external boards and is currently Chair of the Navitas Board of Directors. She is acutely aware of the importance of ensuring sustainability in the business whilst managing risk through robust governance and management policies and procedures.

Dr Petrus Johannes (Hannes) Loock

Researcher and Organisational
Behavioural Specialist
SOUTH AFRICA

Dr Petrus Johannes (Hannes) Loock is a dedicated researcher and organisational behavioural specialist from South Africa. He has a keen interest in how various organisations react or adapt to the influence of external forces. Hannes holds a PhD in Higher Education with a focus on university rankings from the University of Johannesburg, where he worked as Senior Institutional Researcher and in other capacities for more than a decade. He is currently performing a similar research role in the corporate environment. Hannes recently co-authored a book “The Impact of Higher Education Ranking Systems on Universities”. His findings are presented at numerous ranking conferences where he also serves on panel discussions on the topic of rankings. Additionally, he holds a research Master’s degree in the field of Industrial Psychology with a focus on Job satisfaction and psychological safety.

Dr Nico Jooste

Founding Member and Director of the African Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation
SOUTH AFRICA

Dr Nico Jooste is the Founding Member and Director of the African Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation. He has had a diverse higher education career before he formally entered the Higher Education Internationalisation field (in 2000), bringing with him Senior University Management Experience and the experience as a Senior Higher Education Lecturer. Dr Jooste firmly believes that Internationalisation is part of the Institutional Academic project (and not just an administrative activity), and that fundamental research about the practice of internationalisation and the development of the field as an academic discipline should be integrated and practiced throughout the institution and higher education systems.

In all his achievements these believes were always the guiding principle. For instance, at the micro-level he convinced his previous institution to recognise Internationalisation as part of the Academic Governance model of the University and as such it became part of the University Academic Senate, and the position of the Head of Internationalisation being awarded dual title, that of an Administrative Professional as well as that of a Senior Academic leader.

He was the Senior Director of the Office for International Education at Nelson Mandela University (South Africa) from 2000 till 2018 when he retired from the public sector to focus solely on AfriC. He was responsible for the development of the office as a self-funding entity. During his time in office, international student numbers grew from 130 in 2000 to 1500 in 2018. Comprehensive Internationalisation was implemented during this period as a strategic imperative of the University. In 2012, the Office was awarded the Excellence in Internationalisation Award by the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA). Dr Jooste is involved in the re-thinking of higher education internationalisation globally and as such helped arrange the Global Dialogue on the Future of Higher Education Internationalisation, held in January 2014 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He was appointed by the Department of Higher Education and Training to head the advisory committee responsible for the drafting of the South African National Policy for Higher Education Internationalisation. The draft policy was published in June 2017 and would be come national policy during the 2019 calendar year.

He is the former President of the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA). From June 1998 to June 2000, he was the Executive Director of the Eastern Cape Higher Education Association. He was the Deputy Registrar Academic from January 1993 and acting Registrar of the University of Fort Hare from January 1995 to December 1996. Dr Jooste was also a lecturer and senior lecturer in the Department of History and Economic History at the University of Fort Hare from February 1982 to February 1992. His areas of specialisation are the Internationalisation of Higher Education in Developing Countries, the Eastern Cape history and international relations of South Africa during the Cold War. He has published widely on South African history as well as on Higher Education management and Higher Education Internationalisation. He has further presented numerous papers at local and international conferences on both topics, and been the keynote speaker at various international higher education conferences. He is a member of a variety of Global International Education Organisations and was identified by the AIEA as one of the 27 global international education provocateurs in May 2014.

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong

Deputy Director,
Office of QS/THE Rankings
University of Santo Tomas
PHILIPPINES

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings. Previously, he served as Assistant Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Quality Management Office, chair of the IE Department and dean of the College of Engineering of Lyceum of the Philippines-Laguna, and as senior manager of INTEL Philippines.

Engr. Ong is a Professional Industrial Engineer and an ASEAN Engineer. He was the very first to join the ASEAN Engineer registry in 2012 from the UST Faculty of Engineering. The recognition is given to engineers in the Southeast Asian region who have achieved “operational excellence in the field of engineering.”

With his more than two decades of accomplishment-laden experience in several multinational manufacturing companies by assuming various senior and technical management positions, Engr. Ong successfully turned around every manufacturing arena into delivering the necessary factory systems to enable World Class Manufacturing. His excellent leadership efforts won for him several recognitions/awards. One of his notable achievements, when he was named as INTEL Key Employee in Year 2000 in recognition of his valuable services and contributions to INTEL’s operation. This is Intel’s highest recognition award given to a deserving and consistently rated outstanding employee. INTEL Philippines was the nation’s leading exporter for many years past.

With his strong background in various key areas of expertise, he is the prime mover in the successful ISO Certification of UST. He is being considered to be a high caliber consultant that can be tapped in both the industry and academia. Moreover, Engr. Ong crafted a framework of the UST’s EQMS (Educational Quality Management System) for excellence which became his research paper as accepted in two international conferences in the same year entitled, “An Integrated Framework: Unifying Diverse Perspectives in EQMS” and turned out in reality when UST earned the distinction of being the first and only university in the Philippines with the four-star rating in QS Stars Rating awarded in 2015 and 2017. Moreover, four of his research papers have been accepted into International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, which is a Q3 Journal under SCIMAGO-SCOPUS Rankings.

Engr. Ong is currently the only Filipino sitting as a member of the International Academic Advisory Committee of Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) since 2015. Simultaneously, he has been chosen as the chair of the parallel sessions committee under the different tracks in every QS International Conference and Exhibit annual events. Presently, he is now being invited to be part of the AppliedHE Rankings Advisory Board (RAB).

Engr. Ong holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering degree from the University of the Philippines-Diliman where he was a consistent UPCE-PCIERD scholar and a BSIE degree from the MAPUA Institute of Technology.

Prof Dato Dr Toh Kian Kok

Group Business Development Advisor, UCSI Group
Senior Vice-President, Group Human Resource, UCSI Group
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Global Rankings and Internal Audit, UCSI University
MALAYSIA

In his role as Senior Vice-President of Group Human Resource, Dr Toh Kian Kok works to address the needs, requirements and functions of each company within UCSI Group in accordance to company policy, labour law, as well as other social and ethical parameters. To ensure compliance with the University’s goals and objectives, he oversees university rankings portfolio as well as regular internal, external and collaboration partners’ audit exercises where he has been instrumental in inculcating a culture of quality and excellence at UCSI. Seeking to match the best people with the correct roles, he fosters an employee-oriented, high-performance culture at UCSI that empowers staff to raise the bar in all they do.

His contributions is critical in elevating UCSI University to become Malaysia’s and South East Asia’s top private university in QS World University Rankings (WUR) 2019 and 2020 apart from being among the top Malaysian universities alongside the five (5) research universities. Under Dr Toh, UCSI is now ranked Top 400 (1.3%) in the world, 105th in Asia, Top 300 for Graduate Employability Rankings, Top 60 for young universities, and in the recent edition of QS WUR By Subject 2021, four (4) of UCSI’s subjects being world ranked (Performing Arts at Top 50, Business and Management at Top 300, Hospitality and Leisure Management at Top 100 and Petroleum Engineering at Top 150 in the world.

Prior to this, Dr Toh served as Dean of the Faculty of Business and Information Science – the University’s largest faculty – where he was responsible for the Faculty’s academic operations and strategic direction. He was also chairman of the executive committees of UCSI Extension and UCSI Poll Research Centre. Dr Toh received his PhD in Statistics from University of Malaya. He also has an MSc in Applied Mathematical Sciences and a BSc Actuarial Science from University of Central Oklahoma in the United States.

Prof Sibrandes Poppema

President
Sunway University
MALAYSIA

Professor Sibrandes Poppema took up the position of President of Sunway University in January 2021. He was invited to Sunway University in 2019 as a Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Professor and Advisor to the Chancellor on the establishment of a Medical School at Sunway University. Professor Poppema is a Dutch Canadian Citizen and studied Medicine at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He trained as a pathologist and holds a doctorate in Immunopathology from the University of Groningen. He held postdoc positions at the University of Kiel in Germany and Harvard University in the USA. He has widely published on subjects in immunology, haematology, oncology and transplantation, his papers have been cited more than 18,500 times for an H-factor of 76 in Google Scholar, and he is among the top 2% highly cited authors in the world in the field of immunology. He is an expert in lymphoma pathology, especially in Hodgkin Lymphoma, and he has contributed to several Hematopathology textbooks.

He has held several academic leadership positions, most recently from 2008-2018 as President of the University of Groningen, a global top 100 university established in 1614, and as Dean and Vice President of the University Medical Center Groningen from 2009 to 2018. As president of the University of Groningen, he oversaw the rise of the university to place 59 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, as well as strong increases in student success and student satisfaction. Professor Poppema was the initiator of the Healthy Ageing focus at the University of Groningen and established the Biobank and Cohort study Lifelines. He also was one of the initiators of the New Energy Coalition and the zero-emission Energy Academy building. Finally, he was instrumental in establishing the University Campus Fryslan and the European Medical School Oldenburg Groningen. From 195-1999, he was the chair and head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the Academic Hospital Groningen. From 1987-1995 he was a Professor of Pathology and Oncology at the University of Alberta, Director of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Vice-President Research at the Cross Cancer Institute in Alberta, Canada.

On April 27, 2007, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands awarded Poppema a Knighthood in the Order of the Netherlands Lion for his scientific achievements. In 2020, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded Poppema the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, for his achievements in strengthening scientific and educational ties between Germany and the Netherlands. Poppema has been a member of the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (ACTI). He also was a recipient of the Medal of Honor of the City of Groningen, and of the Medal of Honor of the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. Since October 2011 he has been the Honorary Consul General in the Northern Netherlands for the Republic of Korea.

Prof Dr Shameem Rafik-Galea

Professor of Applied Lingustics and TESOL
SEGI University
MALAYSIA

Professor Dr. Shameem Rafik-Galea is presently a Professor of Applied Lingustics and TESOL at SEGI University Malaysia. She is also an associate consultant of Galileo Enterprises and Consultancy Services (M) as well as the current President of the Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics (MAAL).

Shameem retired as a Professor of Applied Linguistics from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in October 2017 where she was actively involved in institutional ranking and branding matters. During this time she was an active member of the QS IAAC committee. She then served as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Liberal Arts, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur from January 2018 to December 2019 before embarking on a career as a consultant and her current position at SEGI.

Shameem has had an active career as a teacher and university academic spanning over 35 years. She has vast experience in matters relating to research, postgraduate education, internationalisation, institutional ranking, quality assurance and curriculum planning and renewal .

Ms Karen Peyronnin

Director
Executive Masters at École des Ponts ParisTech
FRANCE

Karen Peyronnin is the director of the Executive Master programs at École des Ponts ParisTech in France since December 2018.

She has started her career in higher education in BINUS University, Jakarta, Indonesia in 2008 as a lecturer. During her 10 years at BINUS University, she has been in charge of the first EPAS accreditation in Indonesia, head of an international business bachelor program, and finally the director of International and industry partnerships, international office, and QS ranking strategy.

She is French and graduated from ESG Paris (PGSM) with a master in international business Her previous european corporate experience was in international business at Amore Pacific, Paris, France, and supply chain management at Toyota Europe, Brussels, Belgium

Dr Aigerim Shilibekova

Director of Centre for Teaching Excellence
University of Canada West
CANADA

Dr. Aigerim Shilibekova is the Founding Director of the Center for Educational Technology and Teaching Excellence at University Canada West in British Columbia, Canada.

Being a polymath, she strongly believes in a lifelong learning and is currently pursuing her second PhD in Educational Technology and Learning Design at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Her research is focused on Universal Design for Learning in online learning and professional faculty development.

Prior to shifting her career and moving to Canada Dr. Shilibekova was the First Vice-Rector of the Atyrau State University, the Founding Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Astana, as well as an Associate Professor at ENU for 11 years. She was a Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University in 2013 and 2014, the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at Hamburg University in 2015, Fellow at School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Shilibekova is also an internationally certified trainer and facilitator with the portfolio of 18 successful face-to-face trainings and online courses, 8 innovative projects and programs. She is an author and editor of numerous policy papers and four books: Iran, the co-authored monograph on Iranian domestic and foreign policy (2013), Research Design and Methods in Political Science (2014), History of the Association of the Caspian States Universities (2017), Showcase Projects: Project Management in Higher Education (2017).

Dr. Shilibekova holds a PhD in Political Science from Eurasian National University (2009), an MA in International Relations from Istanbul University (2004) and a BA in Economics from Taraz State University, Kazakhstan (1999). She is an alumna of the Executive Education Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard Kennedy School (2013) and holder of Award of Achievement in Intercultural Communication from University of British Columbia (2018).

Mr Pieter Stek

Chief Analyst
AppliedHE
SINGAPORE

Pieter E. Stek is the Chief Analyst at AppliedHE, a role in which he is responsible for the company’s rating, ranking and related products. Before joining AppliedHE he worked for QS Asia Quacquarelli Symonds as Head of Content, overseeing the content for many of the company’s professional conferences and publications. He has also worked at universities in South Korea and the Netherlands and has experience as a journalist, civil servant, elected university council representative and bar tender. Pieter holds Master’s degrees from the University of Twente and Yonsei University and is currently pursuing a doctorate at Delft University of Technology.

Ms Mandy Mok

CEO & Founder
AppliedHE
SINGAPORE

Mandy Mok has three decades of corporate experience driven by a deep passion for the advancement of Higher Education.

Joining QS in June 2002 was a major career move which gave her ample opportunities to spearhead their pioneering work for International Higher Education, particularly in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA).

In her capacity as CEO of QS Asia, Mandy has offered the best of branding, consultancy, and student recruitment services to Universities in the region.

Visits to over 250 Universities in the AMEA region gave her compelling insights into prevailing realities and future requirements of its higher education. With these in mind, she has constantly supported top University leaders with strategies for advancement, globalization and internationalization.

Sensitive to the specific needs of institutions that fall outside of established ranking performance measures, Mandy has left QS to start AppliedHE on 1st January 2020, a new higher education branding and rating agency which is focused on employability, quality of teaching and learning, and collaboration with industry.

AppliedHE brings the benefits of a fresh, new technology-driven operation to the field of higher education branding, ratings and professional networking. It leverages big data and artificial intelligence together with Mandy’s vast and specialist experience to reinvent her industry and with it, the higher education sector.

Prof Mohammad Al-Widyan

President
Amman Arab University
JORDAN

Prof. Al-Widyan holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering (ME/thermal) in addition to MS and Ph.D. degrees from the USA in Thermal and Energy Engineering. Since 10/2020, Prof. Al-Widyan has been serving as the President of Amman Arab University, AAU, Jordan. Prior to that, he served as a professor in ME (JUST) and taught courses in the Renewable Energy and Sustainability Master’s Program and served as a supervisor for several grad students in the same program. He also has more than 45 published articles in international journals, several book chapters, in addition to two translated books, one of which won the national Philadelphia award for the best translated book for 2014. Prof. Al-Widyan has been actively engaged in research grants and projects, as well as in participating in the activities of several TEMPUS/Erasmus+ projects.

Prof. Al-Widyan assumed various admin positions including being currently the President of the AAU besides serving as Dean of Research, as well as the Director of the Academic Development and QA center at JUST and has been over the last several years heavily involved in academic quality- and accreditation-related activities nationally and regionally. He is currently serving on the Board of Trustees and Advisory Boards in several Jordanian institutions. Dr. Al-Widyan was pivotal to the establishment of the College of Engineering at King Faisal University, Saudi between 209 and 2014. He was recognized in several national international awards.

Dr. Bahrullah Safi

Chancellor
Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education
AFGHANISTAN

Dr. Bahrullah Safi is currently chancellor at Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education, Kandahar, Afghanistan. He is also board member and country head at International Business and Economic Research Academy, United Kingdom. Dr. Safi is Recruitment and Marketing Partner of London Institute of Skills Development United Kingdom. Dr. Bahrullah Safi is member of editorial board International Journal of Management and Technical Research, India and He also serves as Peace Ambassador, Institute of Peace and Development, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Dr. Bahrullah Safi has earned BBA, MBA and Ph.D. in Management and he has published several research papers in national and international journals. Dr. Safi has been a keynote speaker in many national and international conferences and he has chaired quite a lot of committees at local and global levels. Dr. Bahrullah Safi is the recipient of different awards and he has trained many corporate professionals.

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Dr Pornchai Mongkhonvanit

Change to President of Siam University and President of Association of Private Higher Education of Thailand (APHEIT)
THAILAND

Pornchai Mongkhonvanit is the current president of Siam University, First Vice President and Chair of Higher Education for Sustainable Development cluster of the International Association of Universities (IAU). He is the President of the Association of Private Higher Education Institutions of Thailand (APHEIT) under the patronage of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. He is also the President Emeritus of International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and the Former President of the Thailand Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.

He has been recognized as the Notable and Prominent Alumnus in Education of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned his Postgraduate degree in Finance, Investment and Banking. He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. He studied and received the Degree of National Defense College of Thailand In addition; he participated in the Institute for Educational Management at the Graduate School of Education of Harvard University. Currently, he also serves as a Board member of World Association of Cooperative Education (WACE).

Being recognized as an expert on higher education strategy with emphasis on promoting sustainable relationship between University and Industry, Pornchai received the Medal of Honor from the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and also from Kyung Hee University, South Korea. Pornchai has also received Honorary Professorship from Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico and Guizhou University, China; Pornchai has been honored the Ph.D. Honoris Causa from Angeles University Foundation, Philippines, University of Cordilleras, Philippines’s Women University, and Asia e-University in Malaysia. He also has received the distinguished alumni award from Saint Gabriel College and Kasetsart University.

E-mail: pornchai@siam.edu

Prof Dr Wichian Premchaiswadi

Vice President Siam University
Vice President of Digital Council of Thailand
I.T. Committee chair of APHEIT
THAILAND

Vice President and Dean of Graduate School of Information Technology, Siam University, Bangkok, Thailand
Vice President of Digital Council of Thailand.
Secretary General of The Computer Association of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King (CAT).
“The Best Researcher Award” from the Association of Private Higher Education Institution of Thailand (APHEIT).
Senior Member of IEEE,
Member of ACM, ISACA and IEICE.

Assoc Prof Dr Malinee Sriariyanun

Assistant to the President for Special Affairs and International Relations
King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB)
THAILAND

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Malinee Sriariyanun is an Assistant to the President for Special Affairs and International Relations of KMUTNB. She received her Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from University of California, Davis, USA in 2011. Currently, she works as a lecturer for Chemical and Process Engineering Program at The Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS), KMUTNB. She has been promoted to Associate Professor at KMUTNB and became the consultant to the president office of KMUTNB in 2018. Her research interests in biorefinery and biocomposite materials. She has been working as the principle investigator (PI) and Co-PI of more than 62 research projects supported by governmental and industrial sectors in Thailand and other countries with values of more than 3 million USD. She has been supervised and co-supervise more than 50 graduate students. She is Editorial members of KMUTNB Journal, Applied Science and Engineering Progress and Oriental Journal of Chemistry and the author of more than 58 peer reviewed Journal Articles. She has participated with presentations, plenary speaker, and invited speaker in more than 72 International Conferences and has contributes as reviewers of more than 39 peer reviewed international journals.

Professor Jacqueline Lo

Pro Vice-Chancellor (International)
University of Adelaide
AUSTRALIA

Professor Jacqueline Lo is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) of the University of Adelaide. With considerable experience in academic governance and management, she provides leadership and oversight for all University international and internationalisation initiatives, with a particular focus on activities and partnerships of University-wide strategic importance that support and enhance the University’s growth objectives.

Jacqueline is highly experienced in education and cultural policy & diplomacy, and is an active contributor to discussions within the university-sector. Her research focuses on issues of race, colonialism, diaspora and the interaction of cultures and communities across ethnic, national and regional borders. Publications include Staging Nation (HKUP 2002), Performance and Cosmopolitics (Palgrave Macmillan 2007, with Helen Gilbert). She has published extensively in areas of cross-cultural engagement and cultural studies in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

She has also served on the committee for reviewing the ACT Arts Framework Policy and regularly conducted briefings for government and the diplomatic corps. Jacqueline has been visiting fellow at UCLA, NYU, the Free University of Berlin and Konstanz University, and DAAD Guest Professor at the University of Cologne. She is the Founding Chair of the Asian Australian Studies Research Network and a member of the NYU Global Arts Exchange Program. She was awarded the Chevalier Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 2014.

Ms Rachel Sandison

Vice-Principal, External Relations
University of Glasgow
SCOTLAND

Rachel Sandison is Vice Principal, External Relations at the University of Glasgow. As a member of the University’s senior management team, Rachel’s responsibilities include strategic leadership for domestic and international student recruitment; marketing, brand and reputation; undergraduate and postgraduate admissions; international affairs and partnership development; fundraising & alumni relations; and widening participation. She is also the University’s Refugee & Asylum Seeker Champion.

Rachel is a chartered marketer and a CASE Global Trustee. She is a member of the Universities Scotland International Committee and sits on a number of sector advisory boards. She is also the University of Glasgow’s senior leader for the Universitas 21 network, The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities and the CIVIS European University Alliance.

Mr Shashank Vira

Managing Partner and Director
Hearth Advisors Limited
IRELAND

Shashank Vira is Managing Partner and Director of Hearth Advisors Limited (Ireland). Hearth Advisors is a leading research and consulting firm based between Europe and Asia, with offices in the UK, Ireland and India. It has a deep understanding of national and international best practices and seeks to make a tangible impact across its focus sectors of Education, Healthcare and Sustainable Development.

Shashank is an entrepreneur, educator, and social infrastructure financier, with three decades of experience. He has been the CEO of international companies, led private equity investments and debt financing of education, established several high quality international academic institutions, master-planned and overseen the development of townships and founded technology-in-education companies. He has led multilateral funded projects for the World Bank and the Commonwealth of Learning and developed national or regional education plans in Canada, the Caribbean, Brunei, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

He is involved with curriculum reform and pedagogical innovations at school and university levels in several countries and deeply in the UK, Europe and India. He has led the design of new schools, university departments and curricula and is on the Board of some of the top schools, colleges and education companies.

Shashank is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge.

Assoc Professor Elajsolan Mohan

President
National Association of Private Educational Institutions (NAPEI)
MALAYSIA

ASSOC. PROFESSOR ELAJSOLAN MOHAN is one of the founder members of the National Association of Private Educational Institutions (NAPEI) in 1987 and is currently the President for the seventh term.

In his capacity as the President of NAPEI he sits in various committees, policies, governance and quality assurance, in the Ministry of Higher Education and has contributed every year during the Malaysian Budget Consultation Forums of the Ministry of Finance. He also sits on the Task Force Committee of the National Employment Council. He is also a member of the QAS, Quality Assurance Certification Committee of SIRIM. He is also member of the Sectorial Training Committee of the Human Resources Development Corporation. Recently he has been appointed to the Education Committee of the Malaysia-China Business Council.

He has been in the teaching career since 1977 and till today after more than 40 years is still in the field of education. His expertise includes lecturing in the field of engineering and also experience owning and operating his own college. He has also helped in establishing the engineering faculties in two universities, Asia Pacific University and MAHSA University. Apart from his undergraduate degree he also has a Master’s Degree in Educational Management from University of Malaya.

Assoc Prof Abdullah Helmy PhD

Vice-Chairperson
AIAL (Asian Institute of Applied Learning)
INDONESIA

Assoc. Prof. Abdullah Helmy has worked in the Indonesian vocational training sector for more than thirty years and is currently advising the Ministry of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia on the revitalization of the vocational training sector. Dr Abdullah Helmy has worked at the State Polytechnic in Malang for many decades and has developed ‘partnerships’ and ‘engagement models’ for working with Industry which have gained national and international recognition across the vocational training sector.

Prof Peter Chang

Adjunct Professor
Tufts University
BOSTON, USA

Education:

Professor Peter Wushou CHANG, MD, MPH, ScD, FRCP (London)
MD (1984), Department of Medicine, National Yangming University Medical College
Master of Public Health (1988), Harvard University College of Public Health, Major: Environmental and occupational health
Doctor of Sciences (1992), Department of Cancer Biology, Harvard University College of Public Health, Major: Radiation Biology

Career Background：

Ombudsman, Taiwan (2018-2020)
Chairman, Committee of Foreign Affairs and Overseas Taiwanese, Control Yuan, Taiwan (2019)
Professor, Institute of Public Health, Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Yangming University College of Medicine
Visiting scientist, National Institutes of Health, Division of Radiation Epidemiology, Maryland, USA
Advisor of the Ministry of Health; Director of the Health Division, Office in Geneva & Brussels,
Representative Office of Taiwan in Geneva and European Union; Director General, Department of International Collaboration, Ministry of Health, Taiwan
International Dean & Vice Dean, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University.
Senior advisor, National Taipei Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan.
President, Asian Health Literacy Association (2019-)
Vice President, International Health Literacy Association, IHLA (2016-)
President, Global Taiwanese Medical Association, GTMA (2020-)
Senior Global Health Literacy Adviser, International Center for Migration Health and Development, Switzerland
Editorial Board, Journal “Health Literacy Research and Practice”
Editorial Board, Journal of Nutrition and Food Science Forecast
Adjunct Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA
Fellow scientist, National Health Research Institute, Taiwan
Advisor, Kaohsiung Medical University
Chair Professor, Chuan-Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan (2019-2020)
Visiting Professor, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, KZ
Visiting Professor, Dian Nouswantoro University, Semarang, Indonesia
Guest lecturer, Global Health Program, University of Southern California, USA
Academic advisor, École des hautes études en santé publique (EHESP), Rennes, France

Ms Charlene Allen

Managing Director, Red Emerald and Co-Founder
The IC Global Partnership
United Kingdom

Charlene has 21 years’ experience in Higher Education. She has held senior roles across several universities in the UK, held a national sector leading role as Chair of British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA) and sat on strategic international advisory boards for the British Council, Universities UK International and the UK Council for International Students Association. Her work has included the development and implementation of various internationalisation projects, lobbying on internationalisation matters and working with the Department of Education and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy International Team on the UK International Education Strategy. She is passionate about internationalisation of HE and the development of female leadership.

Datuk Parmjit Singh

Co-founder and CEO
APIIT Education Group
MALAYSIA

Datuk Parmjit Singh has been involved in the private higher education & technology sectors for the past 40 years. He is the Co-founder and CEO of the APIIT Education Group which includes the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) and the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT).

In addition, he currently holds the following positions:

Pro-Chancellor, Staffordshire University, UK
President, Malaysian Association of Private Colleges & Universities (MAPCU)
President, Malaysian Service Providers Confederation (MSPC)
Member, Advisory Committee, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia
Member, High-Level Task Force, National Employment Council

Datuk Parmjit has served & continues to serve the nation in various capacities as Chairman, Advisor, Board and Council Member on a number of key National Bodies and Government Agencies.

His contributions to the IT Industry have been recognised as far back as 1990 when he was awarded the “1990 IT Personality of the Year”.

In 2010, Parmjit was conferred the Pingat Jasa Negara (National Service Award) which carries the title ‘Datuk’ by Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Prof Dr. Shameem Rafik-Galea

Professor of Applied Lingustics and TESOL
SEGI University
MALAYSIA

Dr Shameem Rafik-Galea is presently a full Professor of Applied Lingustics and TESOL at SEGI University Malaysia and the President of the Malaysian Association of Appied Linguistics, an associate of AILA. Her experiences have included quality assurance, strategic planning and institutional marketing, academic programme deelopment and research planning, institutional branding, internationalisation, postgraduate teaching and supervision and academic leadership. Shameem’s experience as an educator and academic spans over 35 years. Her research and publication centres on ESP, ELT, Discourse studies, language use and acquisition including Language in the Workplace. Prior to joining SEGi University, Shameem was a full Professor at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) until her retiremnt in 2017, Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Liberal Arts, UCSI University from 2018 to 2019 before embarking on a career as a consultant and her current position.

Prof Dato Ts Dr Ekhwan Hj Toriman

Vice-Chancellor
University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
MALAYSIA

Prof. Ts. Dato’ Dr. Mohd Ekhwan, is a Professor on Environmental Hydrology and the 12th Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) (National University of Malaysia). He joined the UKM in 1994, after graduating from the same university – making him the first alumni to become its VC.

He holds a MSc from Manchester University, UK and PhD from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. To date, he has published more than 272 journal papers including 168 indexed by ISI and SCOPUS, 78 books and book chapters, as well as 135 proceedings in national and international conferences. His publications are centred on river modelling and data integration, flooding and floodplain analyses and water quality modelling.

In 2012, he was appointed as a Visiting Scientist and Visiting Professor to Kyoto University, Japan. He was also a task force member of the Academic of Sciences Malaysia (Research & Development on Water) and served as Secretary, Natural Resources and Environmental Research Cluster of the Majlis Profesor Malaysia (Malaysia Professors Council). Since 2010, he has been involved as a principal researcher in more than 53 research grants and 71 consultation works in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia and Indonesia, including major projects by PETRONAS, ECER, TNB, LLM, ISKANDAR Malaysia, Drainage & Irrigation Department and Government agencies.

Prof Dato Mohd Ekhwan has taught courses related to hydrology, geomorphology, environmental modelling and water resources at National University of Malaysia. To date, he has supervised and examined more than 37 PhD theses, 42 MS theses and more than 127 Bachelor degree.

Prof Datuk Wira Dr Raha Abdul Rahim

Vice-Chancellor
Universities Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM)
MALAYSIA

Raha graduated with a Degree in Microbiology from Oklahoma State University, USA and proceeded to do her MS degree at the University of Oklahoma. She joined Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in June 1991 as a tutor at the Department of Biotechnology and completed her PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

Her main research interest is the development of lactic acid bacteria for delivery of useful proteins; plasmid biology, vaccine delivery and cell factory systems of lactic acid bacteria. Raha is currently the President of the Malaysian Society of Lactic Acid Bacteria. She was a past President of the Malaysian Society for Microbiology and is a continuing EXCO member. At the international stage, she is a member of the American Society for Microbiology and the Sec-general to the Asian Federation of Societies for Lactic Acid Bacteria.

Raha held the post of Director at the Institution of Higher Education Excellence Planning Division, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education (MoE) Malaysia. She was in-charge of the overall Innovation Ecosystem as pledged in Shift 7 of the Higher Education Blueprint 2015-2025. Her division specifically managed MoE’s research & development programs (Research Universities, Higher Institutions’ Centers of Excellence, FRGS), research grants and projects, R&D databases (MyRA and MyGRANTS), coordinated matching international and industrial grants (MyPAIR) and facilitated activities relating to the promotion of R&D products from the Institutions of Higher Learning, Malaysia.

Raha is currently the fourth Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM).

Prof Sandeep Gopalan

Vice Chancellor
Carolina University
USA

Prof Gopalan is the Vice Chancellor of Carolina University. He was previously the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Academic Innovation at Deakin University, Australia. Gopalan has been a leader in legal education — serving as dean of law schools and a law professor in Australia and Ireland. Prior to that, he was an associate professor at law schools in the US and UK. Before commencing his academic career, he was an investment banker on Wall Street, and a lawyer.

Prof Gopalan has served as the Chairman of the Arizona Aerospace and Defense Commission, member of the Tempe Aviation Commission, co-chair of the American Bar Association Aerospace and Defense Industries Committee, and Insolvency and Restructuring Committee. He has also been a member of the ABA Commission on Immigration.

Prof Gopalan was educated at Oxford University (BCL and D.Phil.), where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and at the National Law School of India.

His legal research has been published in journals including at Georgetown, Northwestern, Columbia, Pepperdine, Buffalo, Rutgers, etc., whereas his business academic research has been published in journals such as the European Accounting Review.

Gopalan is a regular media columnist and has been published by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, The Hill, the Khaleej Times, Al Jazeera, The Straits Times, The Australian, the Irish Times, Irish Independent, The Indian Express, Times of India, etc. He has also appeared on a variety of TV and radio shows as an expert commentator.

Prof Sibrandes Poppema

President
Sunway University
MALAYSIA

Professor Sibrandes Poppema took up the position of President of Sunway University in January 2021. He was invited to Sunway University in 2019 as a Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Professor and Advisor to the Chancellor on the establishment of a Medical School at Sunway University. Professor Poppema is a Dutch Canadian Citizen and studied Medicine at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He trained as a pathologist and holds a doctorate in Immunopathology from the University of Groningen. He held postdoc positions at the University of Kiel in Germany and Harvard University in the USA. He has widely published on subjects in immunology, haematology, oncology and transplantation, his papers have been cited more than 18,500 times for an H-factor of 76 in Google Scholar, and he is among the top 2% highly cited authors in the world in the field of immunology. He is an expert in lymphoma pathology, especially in Hodgkin Lymphoma, and he has contributed to several Hematopathology textbooks.

He has held several academic leadership positions, most recently from 2008-2018 as President of the University of Groningen, a global top 100 university established in 1614, and as Dean and Vice President of the University Medical Center Groningen from 2009 to 2018. As president of the University of Groningen, he oversaw the rise of the university to place 59 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, as well as strong increases in student success and student satisfaction. Professor Poppema was the initiator of the Healthy Ageing focus at the University of Groningen and established the Biobank and Cohort study Lifelines. He also was one of the initiators of the New Energy Coalition and the zero-emission Energy Academy building. Finally, he was instrumental in establishing the University Campus Fryslan and the European Medical School Oldenburg Groningen. From 195-1999, he was the chair and head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the Academic Hospital Groningen. From 1987-1995 he was a Professor of Pathology and Oncology at the University of Alberta, Director of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Vice-President Research at the Cross Cancer Institute in Alberta, Canada.

On April 27, 2007, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands awarded Poppema a Knighthood in the Order of the Netherlands Lion for his scientific achievements. In 2020, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded Poppema the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, for his achievements in strengthening scientific and educational ties between Germany and the Netherlands. Poppema has been a member of the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (ACTI). He also was a recipient of the Medal of Honor of the City of Groningen, and of the Medal of Honor of the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. Since October 2011 he has been the Honorary Consul General in the Northern Netherlands for the Republic of Korea.

Prof Dr Maurits van Rooijen

Chief Academic Officer, Global University Systems and
Rector, University of Europe for Applied Sciences Germany
UNITED KINGDOM

Prof dr Maurits van Rooijen is currently Chief Executive for Academic Affairs at Global University Systems, a private sector higher education provider that manages over two dozen HE institutions globally and with a wide range of partnerships with public or non-profit institutions. He is also the Rector (President) of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences in Germany and board chair of IBAT in Dublin, Ireland and GISMA Business School in Germany.

Before the launch of Global University Systems almost a decade ago, he was CEO and Rector Magnificus of the prestigious ‘corporate leadership’ university, Nyenrode in the Netherlands. Before that he was Executive Vice President at the University of Westminster, London, acting VP at Victoria University Melbourne, VP at Leiden University in the Netherlands, a director at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and held an academic position at his Alma Mater Utrecht University.

He has held many visiting and honorary members positions in his academic specialisation of sustainable urbanisation and leadership positions in international organisation such as the World Association for Cooperative and Experiential Education (WACE, now based at the University of Waterloo in Canada: https://waceinc.org/ ) and the Compostela Group of University (Santiago de Compostela, Spain: https://web.gcompostela.org/ ).

Prof Sibrandes Poppema

President
Sunway University
MALAYSIA

Professor Sibrandes Poppema took up the position of President of Sunway University in January 2021. He was invited to Sunway University in 2019 as a Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Professor and Advisor to the Chancellor on the establishment of a Medical School at Sunway University. Professor Poppema is a Dutch Canadian Citizen and studied Medicine at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He trained as a pathologist and holds a doctorate in Immunopathology from the University of Groningen. He held postdoc positions at the University of Kiel in Germany and Harvard University in the USA. He has widely published on subjects in immunology, haematology, oncology and transplantation, his papers have been cited more than 18,500 times for an H-factor of 76 in Google Scholar, and he is among the top 2% highly cited authors in the world in the field of immunology. He is an expert in lymphoma pathology, especially in Hodgkin Lymphoma, and he has contributed to several Hematopathology textbooks.

He has held several academic leadership positions, most recently from 2008-2018 as President of the University of Groningen, a global top 100 university established in 1614, and as Dean and Vice President of the University Medical Center Groningen from 2009 to 2018. As president of the University of Groningen, he oversaw the rise of the university to place 59 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, as well as strong increases in student success and student satisfaction. Professor Poppema was the initiator of the Healthy Ageing focus at the University of Groningen and established the Biobank and Cohort study Lifelines. He also was one of the initiators of the New Energy Coalition and the zero-emission Energy Academy building. Finally, he was instrumental in establishing the University Campus Fryslan and the European Medical School Oldenburg Groningen. From 195-1999, he was the chair and head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the Academic Hospital Groningen. From 1987-1995 he was a Professor of Pathology and Oncology at the University of Alberta, Director of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Vice-President Research at the Cross Cancer Institute in Alberta, Canada.

On April 27, 2007, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands awarded Poppema a Knighthood in the Order of the Netherlands Lion for his scientific achievements. In 2020, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded Poppema the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, for his achievements in strengthening scientific and educational ties between Germany and the Netherlands. Poppema has been a member of the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (ACTI). He also was a recipient of the Medal of Honor of the City of Groningen, and of the Medal of Honor of the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. Since October 2011 he has been the Honorary Consul General in the Northern Netherlands for the Republic of Korea.

Prof Elizabeth Lee

CEO
Sunway University Group
MALAYSIA

Under Elizabeth’s leadership since 1992, the Sunway Education Group (SEG) has developed from just one institution into a dynamic group of 16 institutions, currently empowering approximately 30,000 students. A recognised thought-leader by both the public and private sectors, Elizabeth has presented at the world’s top universities and global platforms. A Malaysian Qualifications Agency council member, Elizabeth holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Education from the University of Cambridge and has been awarded two honorary doctorates, from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, and Victoria University, Australia, respectively. Aside from many awards and accolades, Elizabeth was honoured by the Sin Chew media group as ‘Educationist of the Year’ in 2019.

To learn more about Elizabeth: https://www.sunway.edu.my/about-us/Dr-Elizabeth-Lee-CEO

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mohammad Shatar Sabran

CEO
Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA)
MALAYSIA

Dr Haifa Jamal Al-Lail

President
Effat University
SAUDI ARABIA

Dr. Haifa Jamal Al-Lail is the President of Effat University, Jeddah Saudi Arabia. She was awarded a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Southern California. Before joining Effat University in 1998, she served as the first Dean of Girls’ Campus in King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Haifa is a distinguished leader, respected academic, renowned advocate of youth engagement, and author of several articles; having also delivered many keynote speeches on women’s education in the Middle East, women and change, entrepreneurship and business. Dr. Haifa is a winner of the 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. She is also the recipient of many awards such as the Innovation Award, Saudi Sayidaty, Queen Effat’s Distinction Award, Leading Woman CEO, Distinguished Arab Woman Award, World Family Summit Award, and the Distinguished Arabian Woman Award. Dr. Haifa continues to work towards enhancing women’s education throughout Saudi Arabia.

Prof Pamela Z. Dube

University of the Western Cape, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Development and Support
BA, BA Hons (University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban South Africa) MA, PhD, (University of Siegen, Germany)
SOUTH AFRICA

Pamela is a seasoned leader in higher education who completed her MA and PhD studies in comparative Literature and Media at the University of Siegen in Germany, supported by the German Exchange Programme, DAAD. Her versatile career includes higher education and research management, media/communication and literature, human resources development, institutional advancement, student affairs and international relations. She is a past senior employee of the National Department of Education, an academic at the Universities of Siegen in Germany, Kathmandu University in Nepal, and the former University of Natal. She has also served as a Special Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Johannesburg where she also took on the leadership of the Human Resources Division. She is also a past employee of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) where she established an International Relations office and managed the Learning and People development unit.

Before joining the University of the Western Cape as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, she served as Dean of Students at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Dr. Charles Petitt

President and CEO
Carolina University
USA

Dr. Charles Petitt began his tenure as President and CEO of Carolina University on March 1, 2002. Under his leadership, enrollment has grown 300% to make CU one of the fastest growing universities in the United States. His focus on creative innovation and professional collaboration resulted in a number of mergers that brought seven Christian universities, colleges, and seminaries together to form Carolina University. Other advancements include renovations in every building on campus, the successful completion of a multi-million fundraising campaign, and the launch of a number of new degrees in career-friendly fields where future job growth is projected to be in the double digits and salaries will be substantial.

Prof Dr Maurits van Rooijen

Chief Academic Officer
Global University Systems and Rector University of Europe for Applied Sciences Germany
UNITED KINGDOM

Prof dr Maurits van Rooijen is currently Chief Executive for Academic Affairs at Global University Systems, a private sector higher education provider that manages over two dozen HE institutions globally and with a wide range of partnerships with public or non-profit institutions. He is also the Rector (President) of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences in Germany and board chair of IBAT in Dublin, Ireland and GISMA Business School in Germany.

Before the launch of Global University Systems almost a decade ago, he was CEO and Rector Magnificus of the prestigious ‘corporate leadership’ university, Nyenrode in the Netherlands. Before that he was Executive Vice President at the University of Westminster, London, acting VP at Victoria University Melbourne, VP at Leiden University in the Netherlands, a director at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and held an academic position at his Alma Mater Utrecht University.

He has held many visiting and honorary members positions in his academic specialisation of sustainable urbanisation and leadership positions in international organisation such as the World Association for Cooperative and Experiential Education (WACE, now based at the University of Waterloo in Canada: https://waceinc.org/ ) and the Compostela Group of University (Santiago de Compostela, Spain: https://web.gcompostela.org/ ).

Dr Kevin Downing

Secretary to Council and Court
Director, Institutional Research Office
City University of Hong Kong
HONG KONG

Dr. Kevin Downing is Director of Knowledge, Enterprise and Analysis at City University of Hong Kong.

His portfolios have included strategic and academic planning, institutional research, quality assurance and liaison with the Universities Grants Committee. Dr. Downing is a Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Scientist with a current Licence to Practice, and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society with wide international experience, including senior academic posts in Europe and Asia.

His published work centres on psychology, education and metacognitive development and he is Editor-in-Chief of the SSCI and SCOPUS listed journal Educational Studies.

Prof Debra Meyer

Executive Dean of Science, Faculty of Science
University of Johannesburg,
SOUTH AFRICA

Debra Meyer is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Johannesburg. She was formerly Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Pretoria. Prof Meyer holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Davis in the United States, a Master’s degree from the Rand Afrikaans University (legacy institution of the University of Johannesburg) and also completed leadership training at Harvard Business School and the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science. She is a non-executive director of Naspers / Prosus and involved on the boards of other business and cultural organizations.

Prof Meyer has written more than 100 academic papers and conference proceedings on HIV/AIDS research and trained more than 30 Masters’ degree and PhD students, primarily women. She has been published in national magazines and newspapers and have been featured in radio and television documentaries. She is also a published poet, and presented the weather in Afrikaans for over 12 years before resigning from SABC 2 in 2012. In 2014, she hosted one of kykNet’s top ten programmes called “Debra deel’ which has since been repeated regularly.

Prof Meyer is a social activist, focusing on HIV/AIDS, women’s issues and multilingualism in South Africa. She has been the recipient of various awards for achievements in science, and social responsiveness.

Links to websites
https://www.uj.ac.za/contact/Pages/Debra-Meyer.aspx
https://www.uj.ac.za/faculties/science/Pages/Debra-deel.aspx

Elizabeth Lee (Dr)

Chief Executive Officer
Sunway Education Group
MALAYSIA

Under Elizabeth’s leadership since 1992, the Sunway Education Group (SEG) has developed from just one institution into a dynamic group of 16 institutions, currently empowering approximately 30,000 students. A recognised thought-leader by both the public and private sectors, Elizabeth has presented at the world’s top universities and global platforms. A Malaysian Qualifications Agency council member, Elizabeth holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Education from the University of Cambridge and has been awarded two honorary doctorates, from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, and Victoria University, Australia, respectively. Aside from many awards and accolades, Elizabeth was honoured by the Sin Chew media group as ‘Educationist of the Year’ in 2019.

To learn more about Elizabeth: https://www.sunway.edu.my/about-us/Dr-Elizabeth-Lee-CEO

Prof Cees de Bont

Dean
Loughborough School of Design and Creative Arts School
UNITED KINGDOM

Cees de Bont is the dean of Loughborough School of Design and Creative Arts School. Before that, Cees was the dean of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of the Delft University of Technology (2005-2011) and dean of the School of Design of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2012-1018). Cees also worked for Royal Philips Electronics in various roles related to design, marketing and strategy (1995-2005).

Cees co-authored many academic papers in top journal, such as: Design Studies, Design Issues, International Journal of Design, Journal of Product Innovation Management, She ji: The Journal of Design, Economics and Innovation, Journal of Engineering Design, etc. His academic interests are in design education, consumer behavior, the adoption of innovations and responsible design.

Cees de Bont holds a BSc in Psychology and a MSc in Consumer Psychology from Tilburg University and a PhD from Delft University of Technology (1992). In 2017, Cees won the ICoNNN Award.

Prof Dr Maurits Van Rooijen

Group Rector and Chief Academic Officer of Global University Systems (GUS)
Rector of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences
UNITED KINGDOM

Since the mid-90s Prof dr Maurits van Rooijen has served on the executive of the European Access Network (EAN), which is currently based in Belgium and is the only global organisation wholly dedicated to advancing access and widening participation to higher education.

Professor van Rooijen has held visiting and honorary appointments at universities globally in his academic field (sustainable urbanisation) and has published widely on international education and university management. He is actively involved in various international organisations. He is the long serving co-chairman of the World Association for Co-operative and work Integrated learning (https://waceinc.org/) and the former President of the Compostela Group of Universities from 2008-2016. (https://web.gcompostela.org/). He holds various international awards including the Constance Meldrum prize for Vision and Leadership (EAIE 2012) and the Emblema Ouro or Golden Insignia of the Universidad Santiago de Compostela (2014).

Professor Maurits van Rooijen is Group Rector and Chief Academic Officer of Global University Systems (GUS). In addition to this role, on 1st September 2019, Professor van Rooijen was appointed as Rector of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences. He is also Chairman of IBAT College Dublin and GISMA Germany.

Prof Dr Maurits van Rooijen

Chief Academic Officer, Global University Systems and Rector, University of Europe for Applied Sciences Germany
UNITED KINGDOM

Prof dr Maurits van Rooijen is currently Chief Executive for Academic Affairs at Global University Systems, a private sector higher education provider that manages over two dozen HE institutions globally and with a wide range of partnerships with public or non-profit institutions. He is also the Rector (President) of the University of Europe for Applied Sciences in Germany and board chair of IBAT in Dublin, Ireland and GISMA Business School in Germany.

Before the launch of Global University Systems almost a decade ago, he was CEO and Rector Magnificus of the prestigious ‘corporate leadership’ university, Nyenrode in the Netherlands. Before that he was Executive Vice President at the University of Westminster, London, acting VP at Victoria University Melbourne, VP at Leiden University in the Netherlands, a director at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and held an academic position at his Alma Mater Utrecht University.

He has held many visiting and honorary members positions in his academic specialisation of sustainable urbanisation and leadership positions in international organisation such as the World Association for Cooperative and Experiential Education (WACE, now based at the University of Waterloo in Canada: https://waceinc.org/ ) and the Compostela Group of University (Santiago de Compostela, Spain: https://web.gcompostela.org/ ).

Dr Janet Ilieva

Founder & CEO of Education Insight
UNITED KINGDOM

Janet Ilieva is the founder and director of Education Insight, a research consultancy specialising in international higher education. Janet’s research focuses on global student mobility, national policies and regulatory environment for higher education engagement, sustainable development, university partnerships and transnational education.

Janet started her career as a university lecturer in economics before joining the British Council in 2004 to lead the department’s work for higher education research and market intelligence. She joined the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in May 2013 as head of the HEFCE Observatory. There, she published on international student demand for higher education in England, focusing on transnational education. Janet regularly researches higher education engagement for government departments and international organisations in Europe and Asia and the universities’ sector.

Education Insight’s most recent project is the Global Engagement Index (GEI), which captures the state of internationalism across the UK higher education, universities’ engagement in sustainable development and graduate outcomes. Her latest research studies institutional frameworks for global engagement and sustainable development.

Mr Pieter Stek

Chief Analyst
AppliedHE
SINGAPORE

Pieter E. Stek is the Chief Analyst at AppliedHE, a role in which he is responsible for the company’s rating, ranking and related products. Before joining AppliedHE he worked for QS Asia Quacquarelli Symonds as Head of Content, overseeing the content for many of the company’s professional conferences and publications. He has also worked at universities in South Korea and the Netherlands and has experience as a journalist, civil servant, elected university council representative and bar tender. Pieter holds Master’s degrees from the University of Twente and Yonsei University and is currently pursuing a doctorate at Delft University of Technology.

Ms Mandy Mok

CEO & Founder
AppliedHE
SINGAPORE

Mandy Mok has three decades of corporate experience driven by a deep passion for the advancement of Higher Education.

Joining QS in June 2002 was a major career move which gave her ample opportunities to spearhead their pioneering work for International Higher Education, particularly in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA).

In her capacity as CEO of QS Asia, Mandy has offered the best of branding, consultancy, and student recruitment services to Universities in the region.

Visits to over 250 Universities in the AMEA region gave her compelling insights into prevailing realities and future requirements of its higher education. With these in mind, she has constantly supported top University leaders with strategies for advancement, globalization and internationalization.

Sensitive to the specific needs of institutions that fall outside of established ranking performance measures, Mandy has left QS to start AppliedHE on 1st January 2020, a new higher education branding and rating agency which is focused on employability, quality of teaching and learning, and collaboration with industry.

AppliedHE brings the benefits of a fresh, new technology-driven operation to the field of higher education branding, ratings and professional networking. It leverages big data and artificial intelligence together with Mandy’s vast and specialist experience to reinvent her industry and with it, the higher education sector.

Mr Eddie West

Assistant Dean, International Strategy and Programs
San Diego State University (SDSU)
USA

Eddie West serves as assistant dean, international strategy and programs at San Diego State University (SDSU), where he provides leadership of international partnership development, collaborations, and overseas programs. From 2016 to 2019 West served as assistant dean, international programs at Berkeley Extension, the continuing and professional education division of the University of California, Berkeley.

Previously he led international initiatives at the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), where he co-authored International Student Recruitment Agencies: A Guide for Schools, Colleges and Universities, and co-edited NACAC’s inaugural Guide to International University Admission. West is a founding member of https://www.can-ie.org/.

Ms Yifan Wang

Consultant
Capgemini Consulting
CHINA

Yifan works at Capgemini Consulting in Shanghai delivering innovative technology solutions to clients. She also provides pro-bono consulting services for environmental education NGOs in China. Previously, she had study and work experience in China, Australia, the U.S., Indonesia, and Thailand in the field of higher education, investment banking, and project management.

Yifan is an advocate for UN SDGs. She founded the Women’s Network of Australia-China Youth Association, the largest non-political youth organization between two countries, and was selected to attend Watson Institute, the first social innovation incubator in the U.S. She was the first-ever Global Citizen Award Winner at the University of Newcastle, and the 2020 Young Australia China Alumni of the Year Award Finalist. She’s featured on People’s Daily, Lowy Institute and other media in advocating for SDGs.

Yifan graduated with a Master of Management from the University of Melbourne. She holds ACCA and is a certified Scrum Master.

Prof Jenny J. Lee

Professor of Center for the Study of Higher Education
University of Arizona
USA

Jenny J. Lee is a professor at the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona. Professor Lee’s research examines ways that policies, geopolitics, and social forces shape inequities in higher education, in the US and abroad. Her comparative research on international student mobility and experiences in the U.S., Mexico, South Korea, and South Africa over the past decade have especially been cited widely. Professor Lee has authored and co-authored over 120 publications, which regularly appear in the top journals of higher education.

In addition to over 4,000 scholarly citations, Nature, Science, the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and many other national and international news outlets have quoted Professor Lee and featured her research. She holds numerous editorial board positions, including co-editor of the Studies of Global Higher Education book series. She has held numerous scholar appointments at Korea and South Africa.

Her latest research focuses on the geopolitics of global science, which will be featured in her forthcoming edited book, “U.S. Power in International Higher Education,” to be published by Rutgers University Press early 2021.

Dr Janet Ilieva

Founder and Director
Education Insight
UNITED KINGDOM

Janet Ilieva is founder and director of Education Insight, a research consultancy specialising in international higher education. Janet’s research focuses on higher education engagement, global student mobility and transnational education and its contribution to sustainable development.

Janet started her career as a university lecturer in economics before joining the British Council in 2004, to lead the department’s work for higher education research and market intelligence. Janet joined the Higher Education Funding Council for England in May 2013 as head of the HEFCE Observatory. There, she published on international student demand for higher education in England with a strong focus on transnational education.

Janet is an advisor to the Philippine – UK Transnational Education Programme run by the British Council and the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines (https://www.britishcouncil.ph/tne) and a member of the Board of Trustees at Richmond, the American International University in London (https://www.richmond.ac.uk/about-richmond/board-of-trustees/).

Prof Tawana Kupe

Vice Chancellor
University of Pretoria
SOUTH AFRICA

Professor Tawana Kupe is the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria. He holds a BA Honours and Masters degree in English from the University of Zimbabwe, and a DPhil in Media Studies from University of Oslo, Norway. An Honorary Doctorate in Humanities was bestowed on him by Michigan State University in December 2019.

Prof Kupe has a notable publication record, having authored journal articles, books and book chapters in his main discipline, Media Studies and Journalism. He is an active member of several Civil Society Organisations, including the AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism and is Chairman of the Board of Media Monitoring Africa. He has been a judge and convenor of multiple major journalism awards in South Africa and is a member of the Council of the International Association of Media and Communication Research.

He has recently been appointed as a council member and trustee of The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Council, as well as a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) in South Africa, and the Advisory Committee of the South African Sustainable Development Goals Policy Support Initiative.

Professor Kupe is a popular invited speaker, academic expert and regular commentator on issues of media performance on radio, television and the print media in South Africa for local and international media.

Ms Karen Peyronnin

Director
Executive Masters at École des Ponts ParisTech
FRANCE

Karen Peyronnin is the director of the Executive Masters at École des Ponts ParisTech in France.

She was previously the director of International at BINUS University, Jakarta, Indonesia where she started her career in higher education and was in charge of the first EPAS accreditation for Binus International Accounting Program (awarded in October 2014).

She is French and graduated from ESG Paris (PGSM) with a master in international business Her previous European corporate experience in international business and supply chain management. Her research interest is in cross cultural management, process improvement and internationalization.

Mr Hung TRUONG
Head of International Student Recruitment
The University of Newcastle
Australia

Telephone: (61) 4921 5853
Email: Hung.Truong@newcastle.edu.au

Hung joined The University of Newcastle, Australia (UON) in August 2017 as Head of International Student Recruitment. At the University, Hung has been advancing the institution’s student mobility strategies. He has 20 years of management experience in international education.

Prior to joining UON, Hung was the Executive Director at AFS Intercultural Exchanges Hong Kong. At AFS, Hung led an organization that offers Hong Kong’s first and longest-running youth exchange program. From 2008 to 2013, Hung was the Senior Manager of International Affairs at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). At PolyU he led and executed PolyU’s student mobility and internationalization strategies. Between 2000 and 2008 Hung was the founding Country Manager of EF Education First, Vietnam and Recruitment Director of EF Education First, Asia. At EF, Hung advanced the organization’s presence in Vietnam and beyond.

Zanné Van Wyk

Head of Data and Analytics
Diocese of Maitland – Newcastle
AUSTRALIA

Zanné Van Wyk has 30 years of Data and Analytics experience with a particular interest in reimagining what’s possible with analytics and AI in Education. Her team utilizes the latest innovations in data and what’s possible with analytics and AI to accelerate their Data and Analytics transformation agenda. Insights extracted from data collected across the student learning lifecycle are applied to develop predictive models to be used for targeted ‘interventions’ in time to make a difference, not months downstream of an issue. The ability to understand what’s happening at the moment is more valuable than ever. And the ability to make confident decisions based on that understanding is essential for helping organisations adapt and thrive—even as circumstances change rapidly. With an MSc from Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) in the UK with Mathematical Statistics, Advanced Analytics and Data Science, she specialises in the development and implementation of comprehensive D&A Strategies focussing on Advanced Analytics and Data Science platforms.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zannevanwyk/?originalSubdomain=au

Prof Sandeep Gopalan
Vice Chancellor
Carolina University
USA

Prof Gopalan is the Vice Chancellor of Carolina University. He was previously the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Academic Innovation at Deakin University, Australia. Gopalan has been a leader in legal education — serving as dean of law schools and a law professor in Australia and Ireland. Prior to that, he was an associate professor at law schools in the US and UK. Before commencing his academic career, he was an investment banker on Wall Street, and a lawyer.

Prof Gopalan has served as the Chairman of the Arizona Aerospace and Defense Commission, member of the Tempe Aviation Commission, co-chair of the American Bar Association Aerospace and Defense Industries Committee, and Insolvency and Restructuring Committee. He has also been a member of the ABA Commission on Immigration.

Prof Gopalan was educated at Oxford University (BCL and D.Phil.), where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and at the National Law School of India.

His legal research has been published in journals including at Georgetown, Northwestern, Columbia, Pepperdine, Buffalo, Rutgers, etc., whereas his business academic research has been published in journals such as the European Accounting Review.

Gopalan is a regular media columnist and has been published by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, The Hill, the Khaleej Times, Al Jazeera, The Straits Times, The Australian, the Irish Times, Irish Independent, The Indian Express, Times of India, etc. He has also appeared on a variety of TV and radio shows as an expert commentator.

Elizabeth Lee (Dr)
Chief Executive Officer
Sunway Education Group
MALAYSIA

Under Elizabeth’s leadership since 1992, the Sunway Education Group (SEG) has developed from just one institution into a dynamic group of 16 institutions, currently empowering approximately 30,000 students. A recognised thought-leader by both the public and private sectors, Elizabeth has presented at the world’s top universities and global platforms. A Malaysian Qualifications Agency council member, Elizabeth holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Education from the University of Cambridge and has been awarded two honorary doctorates, from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, and Victoria University, Australia, respectively. Aside from many awards and accolades, Elizabeth was honoured by the Sin Chew media group as ‘Educationist of the Year’ in 2019.

To learn more about Elizabeth: https://www.sunway.edu.my/about-us/Dr-Elizabeth-Lee-CEO

Mr Pieter Stek
Chief Analyst
AppliedHE
SINGAPORE

Pieter E Stek is Chief Analyst and Editor at AppliedHE. He previously worked for QS Quacquarelli Symonds’ Singapore office. Prior to that he worked in higher education, both as an administrator and a lecturer, at universities in the Netherlands and South Korea. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in the economics of technology and innovation at Delft University of Technology.

Dr Aigerim Shilibekova

Director of Centre for Teaching Excellence
University of Canada West
CANADA

Engr. Nestor Rubio Ong is a full-time faculty member and is presently the Deputy Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Office of QS/THE Rankings. Previously, he served as Assistant Director of the University of Santo Tomas’ Quality Management Office, chair of the IE Department and dean of the College of Engineering of Lyceum of the Philippines-Laguna, and as senior manager of INTEL Philippines.

Engr. Ong is a Professional Industrial Engineer and an ASEAN Engineer. He was the very first to join the ASEAN Engineer registry in 2012 from the UST Faculty of Engineering. The recognition is given to engineers in the Southeast Asian region who have achieved “operational excellence in the field of engineering.”

With his more than two decades of accomplishment-laden experience in several multinational manufacturing companies by assuming various senior and technical management positions, Engr. Ong successfully turned around every manufacturing arena into delivering the necessary factory systems to enable World Class Manufacturing. His excellent leadership efforts won for him several recognitions/awards. One of his notable achievements, when he was named as INTEL Key Employee in Year 2000 in recognition of his valuable services and contributions to INTEL’s operation. This is Intel’s highest recognition award given to a deserving and consistently rated outstanding employee. INTEL Philippines was the nation’s leading exporter for many years past.

With his strong background in various key areas of expertise, he is the prime mover in the successful ISO Certification of UST. He is being considered to be a high caliber consultant that can be tapped in both the industry and academia. Moreover, Engr. Ong crafted a framework of the UST’s EQMS (Educational Quality Management System) for excellence which became his research paper as accepted in two international conferences in the same year entitled, “An Integrated Framework: Unifying Diverse Perspectives in EQMS” and turned out in reality when UST earned the distinction of being the first and only university in the Philippines with the four-star rating in QS Stars Rating awarded in 2015 and 2017. Moreover, four of his research papers have been accepted into International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, which is a Q3 Journal under SCIMAGO-SCOPUS Rankings.

Engr. Ong is currently the only Filipino sitting as a member of the International Academic Advisory Committee of Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) since 2015. Simultaneously, he has been chosen as the chair of the parallel sessions committee under the different tracks in every QS International Conference and Exhibit annual events. Presently, he is now being invited to be part of the AppliedHE Rankings Advisory Board (RAB).

Engr. Ong holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering degree from the University of the Philippines-Diliman where he was a consistent UPCE-PCIERD scholar and a BSIE degree from the MAPUA Institute of Technology.

Prof Judith Lamie

Managing Director
JL Education Consultants Ltd
UNITED KINGDOM

Professor Judith Lamie is a highly experienced educationalist having worked in the education sector for over 30 years. During this time she held senior executive positions at several universities, providing institutional leadership in marketing and student recruitment, business engagement, online learning and international development. She has been responsible for running offices and campuses both in the United Kingdom and overseas and is an experienced leader, manager and consultant. Judith is Managing Director of JL Education Consultants Ltd.

At JLEC Judith provides interim management solutions, project planning and delivery, coaching and training sessions across a range of academic and professional areas including strategic leadership, internationalisation, marketing and change management.

Judith’s academic background, as a Professor of Advanced Language Study, with a specialism in change management, means she is well placed to assist institutions in making change happen. Judith is a Fellow of the HEA and has authored books and articles in applied linguistics, change management and international education. She has presented at national and international conferences, and worked in an advisory capacity for many institutions, governments, businesses and national agencies. Judith has extensive experience on external boards and is currently Chair of the Navitas Board of Directors. She is acutely aware of the importance of ensuring sustainability in the business whilst managing risk through robust governance and management policies and procedures.

Prof Kingsley Bolton

Professor of English Linguistics (Emeritus)
University of Stockholm
SWEDEN

Kingsley Bolton is Professor Emeritus in English Linguistics. Kingsley was educated at the University of Kent, Edinburgh University, and Reading University, UK.

His research interests include a wide range of topics related to language and society and English worldwide. Kingsley is currently Co-Editor of the international journal World Englishes (Wiley-Blackwell), and a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of Applied Linguistics Review, Educational Studies, English Today, English World-Wide and the Journal of World Languages.

He has an active and continuing research agenda, much of which focuses on English in the Asian region, English-medium education, and world Englishes. His publications include a number of books on world Englishes and Asian Englishes, as well as research articles dealing with issues related to English-medium instruction (EMI).

His most recent book project has been The handbook of Asian Englishes (2020, Wiley-Blackwell), which provides an up-to-date overview of the status, functions and features of English in the Asian region. In addition, he is also Series Editor for a new book series from Routledge, entitled Multilingual Asia.

Prof Perry Hobson
Member, Board of Directors
International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE)
AUSTRALIA

Professor Perry Hobson, PhD is the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Sunway University in Malaysia, where his portfolio covers both global and local engagement. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the UK, a Masters from the USA, and completed his PhD in Australia. He has an academic background in hospitality and tourism, and has been the Editor-in-Chief of the SSCI indexed Journal of Vacation Marketing for over 20-years. He is a Visiting Professor at the Management Centre Innsbruck (MCi) in Austria, and an Adjunct Professor at Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU) in Vietnam. He also sits on the International Advisory Board of the University of Ostrava (OSU) in the Czech Republic. He joined Sunway University, which is a not-for-profit Foundation, in 2019.

Dr Ardian Wahyu Setiawan, Med
Faculty Member
State Polytechnic of Malang
INDONESIA

Ardian is a faculty member at State Polytechnic of Malang. He started his career as a trainer at the training centre of a state-owned company and moved to the polytechnic where he works as a lecturer and researcher. His experience of working in the industry has provided him with insights which guide Ardian in developing his professional expertise in the area of vocational HE.

Prof Nigel Healey
Professor of International Higher Education and Associate Vice-President (Global Engagement)
University of Limerick
IRELAND

Prof Nigel Healey is Professor of International Higher Education and Associate Vice-President (Global Engagement) at the University of Limerick. Prior to his appointment at the University of Limerick, Professor Healey held senior academic positions at Fiji National University, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as teaching positions at the University of Leicester and Leeds Beckett University. He has been a visiting professor at various universities in Belarus, China, Poland, and the United States.

His current research interests are in the internationalization of higher education, transnational education and higher education policy and management. He has served as an economic policy advisor to the prime minister of Belarus and the deputy minister of economy of the Russian Federation and managed a number of multinational research and economic development projects in different parts of the world. He is chair of the QS-APPLE academic conference committee and, until recently, a member of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). He is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and the New Zealand Institute of Management and Leadership and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Christopher Hill
Associate Professor
Faculty of Education
The British University in Dubai
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Dr Christopher Hill has worked in transnational education since 2008; spending 9 years in Malaysia and the last 4 in Dubai. Christopher is an OBHE Associate, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Specialist for the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, an Adjunct Researcher for the Higher Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan and Senior External Examiner for the University of Westminster in Tashkent. His research interests include TNE and its impact on national systems; the role of online learning; and the development of international education and the student experience in the global arena.

Dr Hill hosts the Think Education podcast that provides a platform for reflection and discussion on research practice and teaching and learning within higher education.

Email : Christopher.hill@buid.ac.ae

Prof Abdelrahim A Hunaiti
Assistant Secretary General of AARU and
Director of the Quality Assurance and
Accreditation Council
JORDAN

He earned his B.Sc. in biology from the University of Jordan, M.S. in Microbiology from California State University in Fresno USA, and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Washington State University Pullman USA 1983. He worked as a scholar, teacher, and administrator, with over three decades of academic and administrative experience and leadership in higher education. He was the president of University of Jordan, Hashemite University as well as Mutah University, and he also held the position of founding president for Jordanian Higher Education Accreditation Commission. He was elected as Assistance Secretary-General of the Arab Association of Universities in July 2018 till now.

Prof Mohammad Al-Widyan
President
Amman Arab University
JORDAN

Holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering (ME/thermal) in addition to MS and Ph.D. degrees from the USA in Thermal and Energy Engineering. Since 10/2020, Prof. Al-Widyan has been serving as the President of Amman Arab University, AAU, Jordan. Prior to that, he served as a professor in ME (JUST) and taught courses in the Renewable Energy and Sustainability Master’s Program and served as a supervisor for several grad students in the same program. He also has more than 45 published articles in international journals, several book chapters, in addition to two translated books, one of which won the national Philadelphia award for the best translated book for 2014. Prof. Al-Widyan has been actively engaged in research grants and projects, as well as in participating in the activities of several TEMPUS/Erasmus+ projects.

Prof. Al-Widyan assumed various admin positions including being currently the President of the AAU besides serving as Dean of Research, as well as the Director of the Academic Development and QA center at JUST and has been over the last several years heavily involved in academic quality- and accreditation-related activities nationally and regionally. He is currently serving on the Board of Trustees and Advisory Boards in several Jordanian institutions. Dr. Al-Widyan was pivotal to the establishment of the College of Engineering at King Faisal University, Saudi between 209 and 2014. He was recognized in several national international awards.

Ms Mandy Mok
CEO & Founder
AppliedHE
SINGAPORE

Mandy Mok has three decades of corporate experience driven by a deep passion for the advancement of Higher Education.

Joining QS in June 2002 was a major career move which gave her ample opportunities to spearhead their pioneering work for International Higher Education, particularly in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA).

In her capacity as CEO of QS Asia, Mandy has offered the best of branding, consultancy, and student recruitment services to Universities in the region.

Visits to over 250 Universities in the AMEA region gave her compelling insights into prevailing realities and future requirements of its higher education. With these in mind, she has constantly supported top University leaders with strategies for advancement, globalization and internationalization.

Sensitive to the specific needs of institutions that fall outside of established ranking performance measures, Mandy has left QS to start AppliedHE on 1st January 2020, a new higher education branding and rating agency which is focused on employability, quality of teaching and learning, and collaboration with industry.

AppliedHE brings the benefits of a fresh, new technology-driven operation to the field of higher education branding, ratings and professional networking. It leverages big data and artificial intelligence together with Mandy’s vast and specialist experience to reinvent her industry and with it, the higher education sector.

Prof. Saad Abo-Qudais
Vice-President
Al-Balqa Applied University (BAU)
JORDAN

Prof. Abo-Qdais is an active member of BAU’s senior management team as the Vice-president for Scientific Research, International Cooperation & Quality Assurance. He has extensive experience in teaching and research, strategic planning, curriculum design and development, accreditation, quality assurance and graduate employability in Jordan’s Higher education. He is a strong advocate of international collaboration, community and industry engagement and is a firm believer in higher education’ socioeconomic transformative power. His strong record in fund-raising has seen BAU secure substantial funds to improve its programs and offerings, meet higher education’s evolving demands, and help BAU students realize their full potential.

Prof Judith Lamie
Managing Director
JL Education Consultants Ltd
UNITED KINGDOM

Professor Judith Lamie is a highly experienced educationalist having worked in the education sector for over 30 years. During this time she held senior executive positions at several universities, providing institutional leadership in marketing and student recruitment, business engagement, online learning and international development. She has been responsible for running offices and campuses both in the United Kingdom and overseas and is an experienced leader, manager and consultant. Judith is Managing Director of JL Education Consultants Ltd.

At JLEC Judith provides interim management solutions, project planning and delivery, coaching and training sessions across a range of academic and professional areas including strategic leadership, internationalisation, marketing and change management.

Judith’s academic background, as a Professor of Advanced Language Study, with a specialism in change management, means she is well placed to assist institutions in making change happen. Judith is a Fellow of the HEA and has authored books and articles in applied linguistics, change management and international education. She has presented at national and international conferences, and worked in an advisory capacity for many institutions, governments, businesses and national agencies. Judith has extensive experience on external boards and is currently Chair of the Navitas Board of Directors. She is acutely aware of the importance of ensuring sustainability in the business whilst managing risk through robust governance and management policies and procedures.

Dr Krasae Chanawongse
President
Krirk University
THAILAND

Ms Mandy Mok
CEO & Founder
AppliedHE
SINGAPORE

Mandy Mok has three decades of corporate experience driven by a deep passion for the advancement of Higher Education.

Joining QS in June 2002 was a major career move which gave her ample opportunities to spearhead their pioneering work for International Higher Education, particularly in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA).

In her capacity as CEO of QS Asia, Mandy has offered the best of branding, consultancy, and student recruitment services to Universities in the region.

Visits to over 250 Universities in the AMEA region gave her compelling insights into prevailing realities and future requirements of its higher education. With these in mind, she has constantly supported top University leaders with strategies for advancement, globalization and internationalization.

Sensitive to the specific needs of institutions that fall outside of established ranking performance measures, Mandy has left QS to start AppliedHE on 1st January 2020, a new higher education branding and rating agency which is focused on employability, quality of teaching and learning, and collaboration with industry.

AppliedHE brings the benefits of a fresh, new technology-driven operation to the field of higher education branding, ratings and professional networking. It leverages big data and artificial intelligence together with Mandy’s vast and specialist experience to reinvent her industry and with it, the higher education sector.

Dr Pornchai Mongkhonvanit
President of Siam University
IAU First Vice President and Chair of HESD Working Group
IAUP President Emeritus
THAILAND

Pornchai Mongkhonvanit is the current president of Siam University, First Vice President and Chair of Higher Education for Sustainable Development cluster of the International Association of Universities (IAU). He is also the President Emeritus of International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and Former President of the Association of Private Higher Education Institutions of Thailand (APHEIT) under the patronage of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Pornchai is also the Former President of the Thailand Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.

He has been recognized as the Notable and Prominent Alumnus in Education of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned his Postgraduate degree in Finance, Investment and Banking. He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. He studied and received the Degree of National Defense College of Thailand In addition; he participated in the Institute for Educational Management at the Graduate School of Education of Harvard University. Currently, he also serves as a Board member of World Association of Cooperative Education (WACE).

Being recognized as an expert on higher education strategy with emphasis on promoting sustainable relationship between University and Industry, Pornchai received the Medal of Honor from the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and also from Kyung Hee University, South Korea. Pornchai has also received Honorary Professorship from Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico and Guizhou University, China; Pornchai has been honored the Ph.D. Honoris Causa from Angeles University Foundation, Philippines, University of Cordilleras, Philippines’s Women University, and Asia e-University in Malaysia. He also has received the distinguished alumni award from Saint Gabriel College and Kasetsart University.

Mrs Ramatu Umar-Bako
Head of Influencing, Advocacy and Public Engagement,
Oxfam
NIGERIA

Ramatu Umar-Bako is an alumnus of the UK Chevening leadership and UK Common Purpose Executive programmes. She has an LLB (Hons) in Law from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, BL from the Nigerian Law School, Abuja and an MSc Global Conflict and Peace Processes from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom. Ramatu also has numerous qualifications including a PGD Certificate in War, Conflict and Development from the UK Open University, Certificate in Gender Equality from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa among others.

Ms. Bako has over 18 years of experience in international development with a focus on good governance through human rights, gender equality, and youth empowerment. She has expertise in organizational development, project management, grant administration, institutional capacity building, audit and diagnostic review of governance structures, internal processes and financial management of private and public sector. She has delivered high level trainings and presentations across Nigeria, the UK and across Africa.

She has worked as a legal practitioner under a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), G. Offodile Okafor SAN and with various local and international organizations: League for Human Rights, International Human Rights Law Group, the British Council Nigeria as a Governance Manager and later, Portfolio Manager Public Diplomacy and the Country Director, Speakers’ Corner Trust Nigeria, a UK Charity organization promoting freedom of expression, public debate and active citizenship. She is a former Executive Director of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Mrs Bako is a member of several local and international organizations namely: Association of Project Managers (APM) UK, Institute of Customer Service (ICS) UK, Nigerian Institute of Public Management and the Nigerian Portfolio Management Institute among many others. She is an Adjunct lecturer and Associate Editor of the Capital Law Review, has contributed to many other publications and is a regular contributor to public discourse.

She is currently the Head of Influencing, Advocacy and Public Engagement at Oxfam in Nigeria leading on the campaigns, advocacy, strategic partnerships and communications in country.

Prof Lilian J. Sison, Ph.D.
Director of International Relations and Programs
University of Santo Tomas
Chair, Asia Pacific Women of Faith Network
Religions for Peace, Asia
PHILIPPINES

Lilian Sison has extensive experience in institutional development in Higher Education having held senior management positions at the University of Santo Tomas as Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Research and then Dean of the Graduate School. She is also actively engaged in advocacy work on inter-religious dialogue as Chair of the Asia Pacific Women of Faith Network of Religions for Peace (RfP). She works with different Faith groups in promoting dialogue among different Faiths and in common action on humanitarian and resilience building activities particularly on women and children issues. Her work has been presented in regional and global forums such as the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Brazil, and RfP Assemblies in Bosnia Herzegovena, Myanmar, Indonesia and Southern Thailand. In 2019, she chaired the Women Forum of Religions for Peace World Assembly held in Lindau, Germany. Most recently she was invited to participate in the Asian Online Regional Consultation of the G20 Interfaith Forum 2020 sponsored by King Abdullah International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) and the UN Alliance of Civilizations.

Prof Tahir Kasnawi
Senior Lecturer and Director of Doctoral Program
Hasanuddin University
INDONESIA

Professor Tahir Kasnawi is currently a senior lecturer at Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia, in Several Social Sciences related subjects. Also serving as Director of Doctoral Program at the University. He did his Ph.D. study in The School of Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. Besides activities in giving lectures, he also conducts various field researches on social development issues in Indonesia, as well as involve in many series of National and International Seminars. In addition, he currently serves as a vice chairman of The Provincial office of The Council of Indonesian Ulama (MUI), and chairman of expert group at The Indonesian Muslim Scholar Association (ICMI) South Sulawesi, and Member of Inter-religion Harmony Forum (FKUB) of South Sulawesi.

Ms. Jungin Choi, M.S.
Manager
Office of International Affairs,
Hanyang University
KOREA

Jungin Choi has worked at the Office of International Affairs at Hanyang University for over 7 years and is now a Manager mainly charged with managing about 4,000 international degree-seeking students coming from 90 different countries. She is responsible for developing extra educational programs and providing student support and services for international degree-seeking students. She is very experienced with managing varied government projects, academic affairs, immigration support, scholarship, career, and counseling programs.

Office of International Affairs, Hanyang University
222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763 Korea
Tel: + 82.2.2220.2447, email: cjchoi@hanyang.ac.kr

Mr Yordan Gunawan
Director of International Relations Office
Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
INDONESIA

Yordan Gunawan is the Director of International Relations Office of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He also a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law. He received Bachelor’s degree from Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta and continued his study at the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, Republic of China. Yordan also finished his study at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland where he got certificate on International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. His research fields are: Public International Law, International Disputes Settlement, Law of International Organization, and International Environmental Law.

Yordan is also serves as a Chairman of Association of International Offices of Muhammadiyah Higher Education Institution where he leads more than 70 International Offices in Indonesia.

Yordan can be reached at yordangunawan@umy.ac.id.

Prof Dr Filipe De Castro Soeiro
Head of Digital Business and Data Science Programme
University of Applied Sciences Europe
GERMANY

Prof. Dr. Filipe de Castro Soeiro is senior international full professor, multidisciplinary academic, administrator and executive leader C-level with 25+ years of experience in restructuring, growth, and innovation strategies, who is market and digital disruptive, innovation sustainable and societal change driven. He holds five degrees in STEM fields of knowledge and has been driving successful navigation in complex and thriving HE institutions (FT ranking) and corporate business ecosystems (Fortune 500) in multiple leading executive and adviser roles. He has been leading and managing the development of multi-business university units and multi-programme lines of business, as well as the design and development of campus, blended and online teaching & learning technologies and methodologies, academic development, academic and student affairs, accreditation, applied research, internationalization and corporate industry linkages. He is currently full professor, researcher and head of the Digital Business and Data Science programme at the University of Applied Sciences Europe GmbH, advisory board member of Outreach Digital, senior external expert in Technology, Innovation and Business Strategy Development for the SPARK Berlin Fund lead by the Berlin Institute of Health and the Charité, and co-chair of the advisory board at the international think tank Health Captains and Medicinale Club in Health 4.0.

Dr Ching-Pu Chen
Professor of Department of Social and Policy Sciences
Chief Global Officer
Yuan Ze University
TAIWAN

Dr. Ching-Pu Chen is a professor at the Department of Social and Policy Sciences, and also the Chief Global Officer, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan. He also serves as a director of the board at the Grape king Bio Corporation. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. from Harvard University, and B.S. from Virginia Military Institute. He had 19 years’ service in the R.O.C. Army. He was the director of the Graduate Institute of Defense Decision Sciences, National Defense University before he retired as a colonel. Dr. Chen has taught and published in areas of business ethics, decision and policy analysis, military transformation and affairs.

Ms Aigerim Shilibekova
Director of Centre for Teaching Excellence
University Canada West
CANADA

Dean of Postgraduate School
Chairman for Marine Resilience and Sustainable Development
Hasanuddin University
INDONESIA

Prof. Jamaluddin Jompa, was borne on 8th March 1967 in Takalar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. He got his PhD at James Cook University, Australia in 2001. He also graduated from McMaster University, Canada for his master degree in 1996. He is a senior lecturer and formerly serves as Dean of Faculty of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University (2013-2017) and now serving as Dean of Graduate School at Hasanuddin University. In the last few years, he also has been involved in various programs of the Indonsian Academy of Science (AIPI); including serving as the President of Indonesian Young Academy of Scince (ALMI). From 2004-2013, he served as Director of Research and Development Center for Marine, Coasts, and Small Islands, Unhas. He has published more than 100 journals/books; the majority of them are international publications. In 2007, in addition to his ongoing duties at UnHas, Jamal is also now serving as the scientific advisor to the Minster of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia. Jamal is now the Chairman of Center of Excellent on Marine Resilience and Sustainable Development (MaRSAVE) at UNHAS.

Mr Zi Ming
Regional Head of Talent Management
Funding Societies
SINGAPORE

Zi Ming is the Regional Head of Talent Management at Funding Societies – South East Asia’s largest digital Peer-to-Peer lending platform (FinTech). With more than 10 years of regional experience in consultancy and customized education, Zi Ming specializes in implementing highly tailored talent management strategies & workforce development initiatives focused on scaling companies and employees’ readiness for the new future of work.

Dr Lorna Jean (LJ) Edmonds
Former Vice Provost of Global Affairs and
Director of the Center for International Studies
Ohio University
USA

Lorna Jean (LJ) Edmonds the former vice provost of Global Affairs and director of the Center for International Studies and professor, Colleges of Health Sciences and Professions at Ohio University has enjoyed a 30-year career spanning across the university mission as a global influencer. She worked in the United States, four U15 Universities in Canada and internationally. Her academic and administrative interests and leadership style include continuous learning and implementing actions for advancing inclusive and cooperative governance. She has a particular interest now on the governance of Earth within the universe as development and power extend to outer space and the imperative for all to be involved.

Dr Christine Piepiorka
Professor of Media & Communication and
Vice Dean of the Department of Sports, Media & Communication
University of Europe for Applied Sciences
GERMANY

Dr. Christine Piepiorka (*1981) is Professor of Media & Communication and Vice Dean of the Department of Sports, Media & Communication at the University of Europe for Applied Sciences. She graduated in 2001-2005 with a diploma in media economics from the Business and Information Technology School (BiTS). She completed a master’s degree in media science at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, where she subsequently completed her PhD. During this academic career, she worked full and part time in various fields such as marketing, online marketing, public relations, TV production and film production. In addition to numerous conference contributions and the organization of international conferences as well as the national annual workshop for Television History and Television Studies in Germany, further specialist contributions in the field of television economics and media studies have been produced in recent years.

Ms Lily Manoharan
Managing Director
creativethinklabs
SINGAPORE/INDONESIA

Worked and lived in the US, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, Lily effectively connects multi-level stakeholders to forge international and multi-industries collaborative partnerships and projects, including developing institutions in international education arenas and beyond.

After serving Higher Education, K-12 and community development in various countries as a practitioner and leader, Lily now heads creativethinklabs, serving key clients including world’s top technology company, in partnership activation, strategic advisory, project leadership, organization coaching.

You can find her on https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilymanoharan/

Prof Yinghuei Chen
Dean, the International College and
Dean, College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Asia University
TAIWAN

Education

Ph.D. in English Literature, University of Maryland, U.S.A.
MA. in Foreign Languages and Literature, National Taiwan University
BA in English, National Taiwan Normal University

Work Experience

Prof. & Dean, the International College; Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Asia University, Taiwan
Prof. & Deputy Dean, the International College, Asia University, Taiwan
Associate Prof. & Dean, College of Humanities and Management, Fooyin University
Associate Prof. & Chair, Department of Western Languages & Literatures, National University of Kaohsiung
Associate Prof. & Dean, College of Foreign Languages, National Kaohsiung First University of Science & Technology
Associate Prof., Department of Foreign Languages & Literature, National Sun Yat-sen University

Research Fields & Interests

Victorian Literature, the English Novel, Cultural Studies, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Material Writer, Internationalization of Higher Education

Honors

Recipient of Asia’s Education Excellence Awards, Asia CMO & World Education Congress, Le Meredien, Singapore, 2018
TESOL ESPIS Chair Elect, 2012; Chair, 2013-14
Founder and Chairman of Taiwan ESP Association (TESPA), 2008-2014 Consultant of National Language Policy & University Internationalization, Ministry of Education Taiwan
Reviewer of English Test Questions Bank, Ministry of Examination, Taiwan
Commissioner of Bi-lingual Language Teaching, Bureau of Education, Kaohsiung City Government, Taiwan
Awardee of Fulbright Scholarship for PhD Study in the USA, 1987-1990

Dr Shyamal Majumdar
Former head of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Dr Shyamal Majumdar is the former head of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Prior to taking up the position at UNESCO-UNEVOC, he served as the Director General of the Plan Staff College for Technician Education (CPSC), an intergovernmental organization for human resources development in the Asia-Pacific Region based in Manila, Philippines. He was also a Professor at the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) in Kolkata, India, where he originally comes from. Dr Majumdar has published over 150 research papers, and has received various international awards from UNESCO, International Vocational Education Training Association, USA, CPSC and various member states for his invaluable contribution to TVET worldwide. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering, a Master’s degree in telecommunications engineering, and Ph.D. in educational computing.

Prof Themis Prodromakis
Professor of Nanotechnology and
Director of the Centre for Electronics Frontiers
UNITED KINGDOM

Themis Prodromakis is Professor of Nanotechnology and Director of the Centre for Electronics Frontiers at the University of Southampton, UK. His work focuses on developing metal-oxide Resistive Random-Access Memory technologies and related applications and is leading an interdisciplinary team comprising 30 researchers with expertise ranging from materials process development to electron devices and circuits and systems for embedded applications. He holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and a Royal Society Industry Fellowship. He is an Adjunct Professor at UTS Australia, visiting Professor at the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics at Tsinghua University, and Honorary Fellow at Imperial College London. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the British Computer Society, the IET and the Institute of Physics and is also Senior Member of the IEEE. He and serves as the Director of the Lloyds Register Foundation International Consortium for Nanotechnology (ICoN: www.lrf-icon.com) and Co-Director of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Intelligence for Nano- Electronic Devices and Systems (MINDS). In 2015, he established ArC Instruments Ltd that delivers high-performance testing infrastructure for automating characterisation of novel nanodevices in over 16 countries and in 2019 he founded SoneT.ai that is building new power-efficient hardware solutions.

Dr Kevin Downing
Secretary to Council and Court
Director, Institutional Research Office
City University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Dr. Kevin Downing is Director of Knowledge, Enterprise and Analysis at City University of Hong Kong. His portfolios have included strategic and academic planning, institutional research, quality assurance and liaison with the Universities Grants Committee. Dr. Downing is a Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Scientist with a current Licence to Practice, and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society with wide international experience, including senior academic posts in Europe and Asia. His published work centres on psychology, education and metacognitive development and he is Editor-in-Chief of the SSCI and SCOPUS listed journal Educational Studies.

Dr. Don Olcott, Jr. FRSA
Global Consultant
Leadership and Open and Distance Learning
ROMANIA

Dr. Don Olcott, Jr., FRSA, is a Global Higher Education Consultant specializing in educational leadership and open and distance education. He is based in Romania. He is also an adjunct full Professor of Educational Leadership and ODL with the University of Maryland Global Campus (USA) and an adjunct instructor with Oldenburg University, Germany. From 2014-2017, he served as a visiting Professor and Co-Director of the uImagine Digital Innovation Laboratory and as Head of Virtual Campus at Charles Sturt University in Australia. Don is a Senior Fellow with the European Distance and eLearning Network (EDEN) and Honorary Professor at the University of South Africa (Unisa). Dr. Olcott is former Chief Executive of The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) in the UK (2007-2011), and former Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA). He was the 2016 Stanley Draczek Outstanding Teaching Award recipient from the University of Maryland Global Campus for excellence in online teaching and learning.

Dr Anil Gandhi
Clinical Associate Professor (Surgery)
Monash University Malaysia
MALAYSIA

Dr Anil Gandhi joined Monash University in August 2009 as a Clinical Associate Professor (Surgery). He graduated from Christian Medical College, India in 1980 and obtained his Master in Surgery from the renowned Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.

After post-graduation, Dr Gandhi worked in various hospitals in India and South-East Asia namely Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. He specializes in the field of Endoscopy, laparoscopy and upper GI Surgery.

For the last few years, Dr Gandhi has developed a keen interest in Medical Education. Before joining Monash University, Dr Gandhi was working at Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong and was Deputy Director at the centre for Education & Training within the Dept. of Surgery. He has worked extensively in the field of clinical & surgical skills lab and was a vital contributor in setting up skills centres in his previous places of work. His current plan is setting up a skills centre on-line apart from clinical interest in Endoscopy and Upper GI Surgery.

Ms Grace Apondi Titi
Chief Vocational Trainer
Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology
KENYA

Grace is a chief Vocational Trainer at Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology in Kenya, she is the coordinator of ODFL and also the Dean of Students. She is a long serving TVET professional with technical skills demonstrated through an outstanding record of training and development projects. Besides, has carried out academic and action research in the use of Computer-Aided Design in the Apparel industry. She has contributed to the development of Flexible skills programs, online facilitation, and entrepreneurial growth in TVET. A skilled, creative, and enthusiastic promoter of concepts and ideas, with contributions in the labor market analysis through sharing experiences at various conferences in Kenya, Germany, Malaysia, Nigeria, and South Africa. She has been engaged with the SME sector in skills training, partnerships, and community work. Currently enrolled for a Ph.D. program, and hold a Master of Arts in Design, Bachelor of Science in Clothing Textile and Interior Design, a Diploma in Technical Education, and Certified Master Craft trainer for Industry. A Board member of the African Foundation for Quality E-Learning in TVET (AFQueT), A member of Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Kenya Fashion Council, and a national trade testing examiner under the National Industrial Training Authority- Kenya.

Dr Grace Ngai
Head, Service-Learning and Leadership Office
Associate Professor, Department of Computing
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
HONG KONG

Dr Grace Ngai is Head of the Service-Learning and Leadership Office and Associate Professor at the Department of Computing at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She has extensive experience in teaching subjects at multiple levels and in multiple areas, and her contribution in teaching and learning has been recognized by the University in its prestigious President’s Award, and by the Hong Kong Government in its University Grants Committee Teaching Award.

Grace’s primary teaching interest these days are in service-learning, which she has been involved in for over 10 years. When service-learning became mandatory at PolyU in 2012, she was invited to chair the approval and monitoring committee for all PolyU service-learning subjects, in which capacity she has helped many colleagues to create effective service-learning subjects and projects. With her colleagues, Grace has been instrumental in developing PolyU’s international service-learning programme, which has been bringing more than 400 students to serve in impactful service projects in various countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, and Rwanda. She is interested in the intersection between technology, human interaction, especially in cross-cultural contexts, and global citizenship. She currently teaches the service-learning subject Socially Responsible Global Leadership in a Digital World. Her research interests are in human computer interaction and computer science education.

Assoc Prof Dr Jomphong Mongkhonvanit
Advisor and Chairman Emeritus
Association of Colleges of Technology and Vocational Education of Thailand Under Royal Patronage
THAILAND

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jomphong Mongkhonvanit is Vice President, Dean of Graduate School of Business and Chair of Competitiveness Institute at Siam University, President of Siam Institute of Technology, Co-Chair of Global Impact Council of Microeconomics of Competitive Network at Harvard Business School and Principal Investigator of Digital Divide and Education System Project (Thailand) at the United Nations. He held positions such as Chair of Auditing Committee and Board Director at Thailand’s National Institute of Educational Testing Services (Public Organization) and President of Federation of Private Colleges of Technology and Vocational education of Thailand Under the Patronage of H.R.H. Princess Maha Ckakri Sirindhorn. Dr. Mongkhonvanit was also Advisor to Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister in Economic Affairs, Member in Thailand’s Parliamentary Standing Committees and Chief Consultant for international projects (sponsored by those such as World Bank, UNESCO, ASEAN Secretariat) and national development projects (sponsored by those such as Office of Prime Minister, Ministry of Education, Thailand Professional Qualification Institute, Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion). Dr. Mongkhonvanit is the author of many books such as Coopetition for Competitive Regional Development published by Springer, and dozens of refereed articles Dr. Mongkhonvanit holds Doctor of Business Administration from University of Bath, Masters’ in International Education Policy from Harvard University and Political and Economic Development from Columbia University, and B.A. (Honour) in Economics and Political Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Prof Maurits van Rooijen
Rector
University of Europe for Applied Sciences (UE)
Germany

Professor Dr. Maurits van Rooijen is Chief Academic Officer of Global University Systems as well as Rector of London School of Business & Finance and of GISMA (Germany). He has held senior management positions at various universities such as Leiden University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Westminster University in London UK, Victoria University in Melbourne Australia. Previously he was Chief Executive and Rector Magnificus at Nyenrode University.

Professor van Rooijen is Co-Chairman of WACE (based at UMass Lowell, promoting work-integrated learning), Chairman of the High Council of garagErasmus (based in Torino Italy, promoting talent mobility and transnational entrepreneurship in Europe), vice-president of EAN (London based, promoting widening participation for underrepresented groups in tertiary education), immediate past president of the Compostela Group of Universities (based in Santiago de Compostela, Spain).

Mr Callistus Chong
Senior Director
School of Design & Media
ITE College Central
SINGAPORE

Callistus Chong Founder & Senior Director, School of Design and Media, Institute of Technical Education

Known for creating competitive advantage by harnessing the talents of the Creative Industries (Technology, Business & Arts).

Worked with cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural and international teams in the global Automotive, Consumer Electronics and Technical Education industries in Singapore, The Netherlands, France, Germany and China.

Navigated through three industry disruptions; from Cassette to MP3, Car Radio to Car Navigation and CRT to Flat Television with Philips Electronics. Tranforming current business from meeting manpower needs to being a tranaformation catalyst.

Received National Award for setting up the ITE School of Design and Media School that meets 25% of Creative Industry manpower needs of Singapore.

Credible Private and Public sector track record for transforming industry and organisation through Strategic Planning, Product Marketing, Organisation Development, Teamwork and Coaching.

Developed the signature Design Thinking Practise methodology to help organisation build innovation capability and able to effect transformations as Chief Design Officer.

September 2020
http://linkedin.com/in/callistus-chong-8609332

Prof Dr Sascha Bosetzky
Vice Dean Faculty Business, Programme Coordinator Corporate Management (M.Sc.)
University of Applied Sciences Europe
GERMANY

Personal stuff

Born in 1972
Married with two children (22 and 12)
Coming from Berlin, Germany and still living there
Lived 7 years in a monastery after graduating from high school and starting university

Education

High school in Germany and the USA
MA studies in sociology and other subjects at the University of Bonn and FU Berlin
Ph.D. thesis on the effect of empathy interventions on leadership behavior

Professional Career

Self-employed consultant and business coach since 2006 covering topics HR development, talent management, potential analysis, social competencies
Freelance Lecturer with special focus on HR and organizational topics
Since 2018 tenured professor at the University of Europe for Applied Sciences

Prof Dr Raha Abdul Rahim
Vice Chancellor of
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM)
MALAYSIA

Raha graduated with a Degree in Microbiology from Oklahoma State University, USA and proceeded to do her MS degree at the University of Oklahoma. She completed her PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

Her main research interest is the Development of Lactic acid bacteria for delivery of useful proteins; plasmid biology, vaccine delivery and cell factory systems of lactic acid bacteria. She has supervised and co-supervised more than 80 post-graduate students, published more than 140 papers in peer-reviewed journals and filed several Intellectual Property rights.

Raha is currently the Vice-Chancellor of UTeM, a public university focusing on technology enhancement and producing highly skilled technologists, since June 16th, 2019. Prior to that, she was seconded to the Ministry of Education Malaysia as the Director, Institution of Higher Education Excellence Planning Division Department of Higher Education, April 2014 – 15 June, 2019.

Raha is presently the President of the Malaysian Society of Lactic Acid Bacteria (MSLAB). She was a past President of the Malaysian Society for Microbiology (MSM) and is a continuing EXCO member. She is also affiliated to several other professional societies such as the Malaysian Society for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and the Malaysian Genetics Society. At the international stage, she is a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and was the Sec-general to the Asian Federation of Societies for Lactic Acid Bacteria (AFSLAB).

Prof Dr Retna Apsari
Vice Dean of Student and Academic Affairs
Airlangga University
INDONESIA

Prof. Dr. Retna Apsari, M.Si. has greatly supported Faculty of Vocational Studies, Universitas Airlangga, as a part of the Faculty Board since 2014 when the faculty was founded. She started as Vice Dean of Partnership and collaboration in 2014, then moved to be Vice Dean of Student and Academic Affairs from 2016 till now. As one of the front-runners, Apsari has actively joined Indonesia Vocational Higher Education Forum (as General Secretary) and played one of the important roles in it. Her contribution to the development of Vocational Higher Education could be seen from her focal participation in developing Indonesia Vocational Higher Education since 2015 and 3-2-1 Curriculum of Vocational Higher Education in 2018. Further, she is currently working together with the other members of Indonesia Vocational Higher Education Forum in enhancing the implementation of redesigned vocational higher education curriculum, and implementation of link and match vocational higher education with industry, business and working place of vocational stundents.

Dr Conrado E Iñigo
Chairman of the Philippine Association of Colleges and
Universities Commission on Accreditation, (PACUCOA)
PHILIPPINES